What do you think?
Sex in the Snow: Canadian Social Values at the End of the Millennium
TEN YEARS LATER…
CANADIANS ARE STILL DOING IT IN THE SNOW When Sex in the Snow first appeared 10 years ago, it broke new ground by boldly sketching the changing psychological landscape of Canada. It showed that values can be even more important than demographic traits when it comes to how people behave as citizens, consumers, employees, parents, friends, and spiritual beings. Rather than being defined by their religion, age, gender, and ethnic background, Canadians were embracing postmodern values that cut across those categories. Using data from his extensive, innovative polls, Adams argued that the changing postures of Canadians had been shaped by three major for personal autonomy, for pleasure, and for spiritual fulfillment. A decade later, Adams finds that, remarkably, Canadians still pursue those same values in ever-greater numbers. Our attitudes about gender and family, once informed by rigid religious codes, are ever more heavily driven by values of autonomy and fulfillment—the belief that people should be able to choose the family arrangements that work best for them in both practical and emotional terms. Flexibility and openness to diversity have also persisted in ethno-cultural matters, as 1.5 million immigrants arrived in Canada since 1997. Canadians continue to endorse the coexistence of people of diverse backgrounds and cultural fusion that seeks to savour and explore—not eliminate—differences across races and heritages. Ten years later, Sex in the Snow remains a unique portrait of what it means to be Canadian.
CANADIANS ARE STILL DOING IT IN THE SNOW When Sex in the Snow first appeared 10 years ago, it broke new ground by boldly sketching the changing psychological landscape of Canada. It showed that values can be even more important than demographic traits when it comes to how people behave as citizens, consumers, employees, parents, friends, and spiritual beings. Rather than being defined by their religion, age, gender, and ethnic background, Canadians were embracing postmodern values that cut across those categories. Using data from his extensive, innovative polls, Adams argued that the changing postures of Canadians had been shaped by three major for personal autonomy, for pleasure, and for spiritual fulfillment. A decade later, Adams finds that, remarkably, Canadians still pursue those same values in ever-greater numbers. Our attitudes about gender and family, once informed by rigid religious codes, are ever more heavily driven by values of autonomy and fulfillment—the belief that people should be able to choose the family arrangements that work best for them in both practical and emotional terms. Flexibility and openness to diversity have also persisted in ethno-cultural matters, as 1.5 million immigrants arrived in Canada since 1997. Canadians continue to endorse the coexistence of people of diverse backgrounds and cultural fusion that seeks to savour and explore—not eliminate—differences across races and heritages. Ten years later, Sex in the Snow remains a unique portrait of what it means to be Canadian.
220 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
About the author
Michael Adams
6 books7 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Michael Adams is the president of the Environics group of research and communications consulting companies which he co-founded in 1970. In 2006 he founded the Environics Institute for Survey Research, where he also serves as President.
Mr. Adams is also the author of six books, including: Sex in the Snow: Canadian Social Values at the End of the Millennium (1997); Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values, (2003); and Unlikely Utopia: The Surprising Triumph of Canadian Pluralism (2007). Fire and Ice won the prestigious 2003/04 Donner Prize for the best book on Canadian public policy and was selected in the fall of 2005 by the Literary Review of Canada as one of the 100 most important books ever published in the country.
Michael Adams is the president of the Environics group of research and communications consulting companies which he co-founded in 1970. In 2006 he founded the Environics Institute for Survey Research, where he also serves as President.
Mr. Adams is also the author of six books, including: Sex in the Snow: Canadian Social Values at the End of the Millennium (1997); Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values, (2003); and Unlikely Utopia: The Surprising Triumph of Canadian Pluralism (2007). Fire and Ice won the prestigious 2003/04 Donner Prize for the best book on Canadian public policy and was selected in the fall of 2005 by the Literary Review of Canada as one of the 100 most important books ever published in the country.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 29, 2018
This is the 2006 updated version but it still contains outdated language from the original 1997 edition. The broad generalizations of the demographics may still be relevant currently - I can see aspects of my parents in the Anxious Communitarian category - but I think a new look at Canadian social values is in order, and not just an update on a older version.
March 7, 2026
another biased, oversimplistic and flawed book by Adams
It's not his worst, but the revised edition was basically a waste of time for the extra 35 pages
like tweaking a bad argument, instead of actually writing a much better book
The guy is the King of cookie cutter overgeneralization
most of his books have some of the strongest bias around for arguments about Canadian Society that say a lot more about his outlook and views than actually a nation
with a fair amount of sloppy arguments
the dumb title gives you enough of an idea of what you're getting into here
January 30, 2018
The author is or was a statistician. What sticks with me from this book is what he called the incredible importance of small differences. He noted how people (in Canada) who were very similar in interested and concerns would often bear the most animosity towards each other.
February 2, 2018
Is there any other book that better traces the whole social change in Canada over the past 70+ years? No. There isn't.
A must read.
A must read.
Read
February 16, 2010only baby boomers would attempt to write off an entire generation simply because they were somebody else's kids. (boom bust & echo). Let's compare grunge and hip hop to the jonas brothers and britney spears - perhaps they spoke too soon.
this book is an alternate take on gen x (so tired), describing the differences between american and canadian values and outlining various "tribes" that can connect like minds beyond age, geography, religion and other false boundaries.
I found this book really interesting and I see technology as providing the means to connect with your "tribe" - as opposed to the people in your neighbourhood you may not have so much in common with.
I've lived in the us & in canada and know the differences between the two pretty well actually, and I found Adams' take on that believable.
this book is an alternate take on gen x (so tired), describing the differences between american and canadian values and outlining various "tribes" that can connect like minds beyond age, geography, religion and other false boundaries.
I found this book really interesting and I see technology as providing the means to connect with your "tribe" - as opposed to the people in your neighbourhood you may not have so much in common with.
I've lived in the us & in canada and know the differences between the two pretty well actually, and I found Adams' take on that believable.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews