false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173754475m/323912.jpg 323912 2 "I got my first job working in a toy store when I was 41 years old." So begins sociologist Christine Williams's description of her stint as a low-wage worker at two national toy store chains: one upscale shop and one big box outlet. In this provocative, perceptive, and lively book, studded with rich observations from the shop floor, Williams chronicles her experiences as a cashier, salesperson, and stocker and provides broad-ranging, often startling, insights into the social impact of shopping for toys. Taking a new look at what selling and buying for kids are all about, she illuminates the politics of how we shop, exposes the realities of low-wage retail work, and discovers how class, race, and gender manifest and reproduce themselves in our shopping-mall culture. <br>Despite their differences, Williams finds that both toy stores perpetuate social inequality in a variety of ways. She observes that workers are often assigned to different tasks and functions on the basis of gender and race; that racial dynamics between black staff and white customers can play out in complex and intense ways; that unions can't protect workers from harassment from supervisors or demeaning customers even in the upscale toy store. And she discovers how lessons that adults teach to children about shopping can legitimize economic and social hierarchies. In the end, however, <I>Inside Toyland </I>is not an anticonsumer diatribe. Williams discusses specific changes in labor law and in the organization of the retail industry that can better promote social justice. 314615 9 1 2006 Inside Toyland: Working, Shopping, and Social Inequality total:12|5:3|4:3|3:5|2:1| 12 44 19 3 4 0 false false Sun Aug 24 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 24 21:14:09 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 24 21:19:58 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 22 07:52:26 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 05 20:43:19 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Mon Jun 16 15:28:27 -0700 2008 Fri Dec 12 10:39:13 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Fri Sep 18 10:56:29 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 10:56:36 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Mar 25 00:45:41 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 25 00:45:41 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Sat Mar 21 21:18:32 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 21 21:18:32 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Mon Dec 22 11:47:22 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 22 11:47:22 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Sun Nov 30 09:22:33 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 30 09:22:38 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Sun Nov 02 10:38:24 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 02 10:38:24 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Thu Aug 28 11:20:54 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 28 11:21:20 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sun Sep 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 26 19:12:09 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 14 20:59:35 -0700 2008 1 0 0 false false Thu Jun 05 22:21:14 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 05 22:21:14 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Jan 24 18:58:26 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 18:58:53 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Sun Jan 06 12:13:40 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 06 12:13:40 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Sat Nov 10 14:44:02 -0800 2007 Sat Nov 10 14:44:02 -0800 2007 0 0 false false Fri Oct 05 11:15:17 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 05 11:15:34 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Thu Aug 16 16:51:07 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 18 19:34:44 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Wed Aug 15 11:29:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 15 11:29:00 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Mon Mar 12 18:54:43 -0700 2007 Mon Mar 12 18:54:43 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=323912