Gary McDonogh. Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Culture

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limited power to enforce its judgments and the secretive nature of its internal functioning.

Oral arguments, usually interrupted by piercing questions from the justices, are open to

the public, as is access to the records of cases and printed briefs—written arguments—

Court proceedings are never televised. The entire process of considering and selecting

cases for full review, discussing and voting on cases after oral argument and circulating

drafts of opinions takes place in a strictly closed environment. The Court lacks tools to

carry out directly many of its most significant rulings, especially those with broad impact.

It commands no

army

police

to force a resistant executive branch or state officials to

implement its orders. It cannot levy taxes and appropriate money to fund change as

legislatures can. It must rely on government officials to effectuate and assure compliance,

prodded by the public, which acquiesces in the Court’s rulings and respects the rule o

law.

The Court also preserves its credibility by using self-

rotective devices to avoid

extremely contentious cases. It has almost total discretion in choosing cases. For

example, for years it refused to accept any case that directly questioned the

constitutionality of the

Vietnam War;

yet it acted quickly to rule that the government

could not restrain the press from publishing the

“Pentagon Papers”,

which were critical

of the war. Despite about 7,500 requests for review each term, the Court accepts about 90

for argument.

Many constitutional terms, such as “due process” and “speech,” are couched in vague,

valueladen language. This provides justices with flexibility to reinterpret subjective

constitutional language and enables successor Courts to overrule prior decisions and

adjust constitutional doctrine to meet current social and economic needs. The practice o

writing detailed, dissenting opinions allows justices to voice opposition to the majority,

spurs legal debate and encourages optimism in discontented groups that, as society’s

views or the composition of the Court changes, minority positions will prevail. The

Court’s direction remains constantly intertwined in the current of history, but at times,

courageously, it moves to the forefront and shapes history.

Further reading

Schwartz, B. (1993)

A History of the Supreme Court,

New York: Oxford University

Press.

Shnayerson, R. (1986)

The Supreme Court of the United States,

New York: Harry

N.Abrams, Inc.

Woodward, B. and Arnstrong, S. (1979)

The Brethren, Inside the Supreme Court,

New

York: Simon & Schuster.

JAMES KRAUS

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Supremes, the

Undisputed queens of the girl-group scene and one of Motown’s leading acts, with their

sweet harmonies, choreographed dances and chic visual styles. Originally formed as the

Primettes in Detroit in 1959, they signed to Motown in 1960 with original members

Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard (replaced by Cindy Birdsong in 1967) and

Barbara Martin (who left in 1961). Beginning with “Where Did Our Love Go” and

ending with “Someday We’ll Be Together,” the Supremes launched twelve number-one

singles between 1964 and 1969. After their split-up, Diana Ross went on to fame as a

solo artist and film actor. A purported reunion with Ross and substitutes failed to attract

audiences in 2000.

EDWARD MILLER

surfing

The “hot dog” style of surfing based on a traditional Hawai’ian practice began on the

west coast of the United States in the mid-1950s, made possible by the development o

new boards manufactured from light synthetic materials. Surfing quickly became a cult,

popularized by the teen movie, like the series and later television sitcom,

Gidget

(1959),

the Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello movies

Beach Party

(1963),

Bikini Beach

(1964) and

Beach Blanket Bingo

(1965), the documentary

The Endless Summer

(1966),

as well as the music of the

Beach Boys

Californians introduced their Malibu boards to Australia and a few years later, in 1962,

an Australian won the first unofficial world championship. This began a long rivalry

between Australia,

California

and

Hawai’i

for dominance in surfing.

In conjunction with this emerging rivalry, surfing became a big business. Gerry Lopez,

a leading surfer in his own right, began to sell boards through a shop outlet in Honolulu.

Then he established the Bolt Corporation with partners in California, and set up a

franchise arrangement that gave manufacturing rights to companies in all the major

surfing countries. In conjunction with business growth came technological developments,

such as the introduction of V-bottoms on boards, which improved the surfer’s ability to

surf waves for longer.

The possibility that surfing will become an

Olympic

sport in the future has increased

with the opening of indoor surfing pools in

Japan

and Arizona.

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ROBERT GREGG

Surgeon General

Chief of the Public Health Service of the US (under the Department of Health and

Human Services). Statements on

tobacco

(now printed as a warning on all cigarette

boxes),

physical fitness, diet,

AIDS

and other issues have made this a moral and

olitical position, turning Surgeon Generals like C. Everett Koop into public figures. The

consequences of politicization were also apparent in the forced resignation of

Clinton

appointee Jocelyn Elders (1933–), the first woman and

African American

to hold the

post. Her views on

guns,

legalizing drugs, sexuality and sex education proved too

controversial for the staid vision of a healthy America.

GARY McDONOGH

survivalists

American apocalyptics who express their rejection of issues or changes by choosing to

withdraw from American society and await its destruction, armed with tools of both

living and conquest. While such groups were exacerbated by Y2K anxieties, their choice

of life in a wilderness, individual values over collectivity and a highly personal (small

collective) vision of the American dream has clear antecedents in both Utopian and

reformist groups. The dilemma in the late twentieth century in fact, was where one went

and what one did to survive.

GARY McDONOGH

Susann, Jacqueline

b. 1918; d. 1974

Potboiler author of scandalous novels set in the entertainment industry.

Valley of the

olls

shocked the 1960s with descriptions of sex and loose lifestyles, while the film

version of the novel (1967) became a camp classic. Ms Susann also wrote

Every Night,

osephine, The Love Machine

(another roman a clef set in network

television

Once Is

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ot Enough, Delores

(a thinly veiled portrait of “the other Jackie”) and

Yargo

(an attempt

at science fiction). A biography by Barbara Seaman shows that her own life was replete

with bisexuality and pills. In 2000 Bette Midler depicted Ms Susann in

Isn’t She Great

EDWARD MILLER

sweatshops

The 1995 bust of an El Monte,

California

factory where seventy-five Thai immigrants

worked 18-hour days behind barbed wire producing designer clothes for $1.60 per hour

underscored the dark side of American

fashion

and

consumerism

. While this case led to

new California laws banning such labor conditions and practices, and compensations

ranging from $10,000 to $80,000 for the workers, demands for 8

illion items of clothes

er year in America have fostered sweatshop conditions in the US and abroad. In the US,

they are especially associated with

ethnic enclaves

or manufacturers in the US—Mexico

borderlands

. More corporations have been accused of underpaid and dangerous labor

conditions overseas—in the US-controlled territory of

Saipan

(hence, “Made in

America”) or Vietnam, Indonesia,

China, Latin America

and

Africa

. Major designers

and distributors like Nike, DKNY, Guess and others have been implicated;

celebrity

television host Kathie Lee Gifford broke down in tears on air after accusations that her

clothing line was produced by child labor.

College

students and labor activists in the

1990s increasingly organized boycotts of these products and lobbied institutions,

government and manufacturers for changes—although ethics, here, must struggle against

constant demand.

GARY McDONOGH

swimming

The most popular recreation for Americans. Upper middle-class Americans build pools in

their yards or belong to expensive country clubs;

middle-class

Americans will belong to

YMCA

s or other health clubs and/or go to public community pools that are also

frequented, especially in the cities, by members of the lower classes. Swimming is also

an important aspect of vacationing at lakes and ponds, as well as at the shore.

Competitive swimming was popular in nineteenth-century Britain, mainly involving a

gentlemanly breaststroke. In 1844, two American Indians demonstrated a stroke akin to

what would become crawl at a London pool, but observers considered it “un-European.”

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The stroke was then introduced to

California

by an Australian who had learned the

stroke in the South Sea Islands, and it quickly became established as the major Olympic

speed race. The sport’s growing popularity was very much connected with the career o

Johnny Weissmuller, who won eight gold medals at the 1924 and 1928 Olympic Games

before going on to star in eighteen

Hollywood

movies as Tarzan.

More recently several Americans have dominated the sport: Donna deVarona, the

“Queen of Swimming” in the early 1960s; Mark Spitz, winner of seven gold medals, and

Shirley Babashoff, winner of eight medals altogether at the 1972 Olympics; Tracy

Caulkins, generally considered one of the greatest all-round swimmers of all time and

awarded the title “Swimmer of the Decade” by

USA Today

in 1990; Matt Biondi, winner

of gold medals at three Olympiads (1984–92); and Greg

Louganis,

acknowledged as the

greatest diver of all time.

Recently news reports have suggested that boys have been giving up the sport in large

numbers as they reach puberty, partly because they find the newer streamlined swimming

trunks too revealing. With so many sports options available at school and home, young

oys are selecting those that they think will project the best image. As a result, swim

teams have become increasingly populated by girl athletes, some programs becoming 70

ercent female. The likelihood of any more Spitzs or Louganis emerging in the United

States is slim, but the chances that an American woman may produce similar feats may

e increasing with the growing numbers of athletic scholarships at colleges going to

women (following

Title IX

), and in the aftermath of the collapse of support for the

military-style training programs of the former Soviet Union and East Germany.

Synchronized swimming, largely associated with women athletes, has experienced

tremendous growth in the 1980s and 1990s. Its origins in the 1933

World’s Fair

Chicago, IL,

synchronized swimming was popularized during the 1940s in Hollywood’s

“water ballets” or “aqua musicals,” identified with “America’s mermaid,” Esther

Williams (e.g.

Bathing Beauty,

1944;

Million Dollar Mermaid,

1952). It continued to

develop in the Midwestern collegiate programs as an alternative to speed swimming,

though with the appeal of its stunts and physically demanding routines it was not

exclusively associated with women.

First adopted as a non-medal sport at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, synchronized

swimming was finally introduced as a medal sport at the 1996

Atlanta

games (though

some medal events have been dropped since), as Americans wanted to showcase

American talent and to meet the demand for more women participants in the Olympics.

Since pools were already in place for the other swimming events, synchronized

swimming was considered a low-cost, high-entertainment addition to the program.

In the process, synchronized swimming has disrupted gender associations in sports, in

ways similar to figure skating. While the sport plays on notions of femininity, witnessed

also in the feminizing of cheerleading, it also demands great athleticism, and so is further

breaking down the gendered linkages of male with “athletic” and female with “grace”

ee also:

sports and gender

ROBERT GREGG

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syndication

Syndication refers to the non-network distribution of shows. There are two main ways to

license programs to individual outlets. The first way is with programs that are new and

created especially for syndication, such as

The Oprah Winfrey Show, Wheel of Fortune

and

Xena: Warrior Princess;

games and talk shows are popular products. In off-network

syndication, the distributor takes a program that has already been shown (for at least three

seasons) and rents episodes to local stations or to cable

networks

Nick at Nïte,

for

example, has used this form—reruns of baby boomer

sitcoms

—to gain an adult audience.

Syndication also has impact on international markets and the exporting of American

products—during the 1990s when American television was dominated by sitcoms that

did not sell well abroad, syndicated shows such as

Baywatch

found bidders overseas.

EDWARD MILLER

tabloids

“Tabloids” generally refers to any paper produced in the tabloid format, that is, relatively

smaller than conventional “broadsheets” and without physically separate sections. For

urban commuters, these features make the “tab” easier to read than the broadsheet. So too

do a number of other characteristics associated with most—not all—

orth American

tabloids: short news items, large print and a simplified writing style. Tabloids’ colorful

headlines often feature puns, slang, or hyperbole, for example, describing a murder in a

New York

strip club as “Headless Body Found in Topless Bar.” A tendency to cultivate a

road audience often results in sensationalist or salacious stories. Tabs generally eschew

abstract discussions of state policy or political analysis, favoring instead news about

crime, celebrity,

sports, or the bizarre. The most notorious tabloids, weekly national

“supermarket tabloids,” invariably trumpet tales of celebrity romance, dubious

“scientific”

reakthroughs, or alien abductions in their pages. Not surprisingly, these

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ournals often face charges of illegitimate news gathering or even outright fabrication.

In the 1980s and 1990s, worried media critics charged that the success of tabloids had

begun to infect the culture, leading to growing “tabloidization” within journalism and a

gradual erosion of news ethics. This was precipitating, or at least evidence of, a decline in

the nation’s public culture more generally. Similar debates have taken place in the past—

with the advent of both the penny press and the yellow press—as established news organs

find their niches threatened by more popular, more explicitly commercial sources.

Further reading

Fox, W.J. (1997)

Junk news,

Cambridge, MA: Joan Shorenstein Center, JFK School of

Government.

Schudson, M. (1978)

Discovering the News,

New York: Basic Books.

MARK BREWIN

Taft-Hartley Act

unions

Talking Heads

Byrne, David

talk radio

Talk

radio

is a programming format that encompasses a wide range of topics, such as

health, finance, religion, politics, community issues and sports. Listener call-in and

interview shows enjoy considerable popularity. The personality of the host is the key

ingredient to talk radio’s popularity.

There has been an explosion in talk radio since the 1980s due to the need by AM radio

for programming and technological advances made possible by satellite transmission,

drastically reducing costs of traditional telephone lines. Early talk radio was primarily

overnight programming, such as with

Larry Kïng Live

and

Talk Net

in the 1980s. Later

successes include Howard Stern, conservative anti-gay activist, the controversial

conservative Rush Limbaugh, psychologist Dr Laura Schlesinger and former Watergate

conspirator G.Gordon Liddy. In 1997, 588 radio stations reported a talk format and 1,008

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reported a news/talk format.

Further reading

(1997)

Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook,

vol. 1, New Providence: R.R.Bowker.

GAIL HENSON

talk shows, television

The talk show as a broad generic category is one of the oldest and more durable

electronic media forms, with roots dating back to the early days of radio in the US. Quite

simply talk shows are performative conversations featuring a host and some combination

of experts,

celebrities

and/or “average citizens.” They cover a wide array of subjects

including news, politics, current events, sports,

religion,

hobbies, the arts, gossip, tips for

home-makers,

self-help

therapy, as well as advice. As Rose (1985) notes, although it

appears to be the loosest and most casual of genres, the talk show is carefully and

purposefully crafted, based on the concept of “controlled spontaneity” and adhering to a

predictable progression of situations and segments.

According to Wayne Munson (1993), talk shows of various sorts constituted between

15 and 25 percent of the total schedule during radio’s golden age, and their popularity has

increased steadily over time. While the earliest programs consisted mainly of monologues

y hosts and experts or celebrity guests, radio quickly embraced the concept of audience

participation and by the early 1960s call-in “talk radio” had gained a permanent foothold

in the schedule. Initially focused on current affairs and targeting an older male audience,

in the 1970s talk radio fragmented to include several discrete subgenres that attracted

women and younger listeners: talk/service and psychological advice; sports talk; the

news/talk “gripe” show (sometimes known as “hot talk,” exemplified first by

The Joe

yne Sho

and then later by

Rush Limbaugh

); and “non-controversial” talk such as

The

arry

ïng Show,

which combines issue and celebrity interviews with call-ins.

On television, the talk show was traditionally devoted to either light entertainment,

with comedy skits, music and celebrity guests, or to more serious discussion of news and

ublic affairs among experts. In the early 1950s, the National Broadcasting Corporation

(NBC) developed the longrunning

late-night

celebrity talk/variety

Tonight Show,

the

news/talk

Today Show

and an afternoon program geared towards home-makers called

The Home Show

. More serious interview programs like

Mike Wallace Interviews

and

Edward R.

Murrow

’s

Person to Person

also appeared on network

prime time

during the

1950s, early forerunners of a long line of male-oriented political talk shows such as

Face

the Nation, Firing Line

and

Crossfire

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The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the emergence of daytime (and early evening)

variety chat shows, often known by the name of their host, including Mike Douglas,

Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore, and girl talk, popular among

middle-class

female audiences.

This remains a volatile field for stars in the 1990s where failures (Whoopi

Goldberg,

Chevy Chase) are constantly replaced by new hosts and packages like Rosie O’Donnell

or Roseanne.

The late 1960s also witnessed the debut of

The Phil Donahue Show,

the first of what

would become a popular daytime format featuring a participatory studio audience and

“ordinary people” as panelists (along with experts and the occasional celebrity). For

almost two decades,

Donahue

was the only nationally syndicated program of its kind on

the air. Eventually however, concommitant with the rise of “reality-based”

rogramming

more generally, Donahue was joined by Sally Jessy Raphael, Oprah

Winfrey,

Geraldo

Rivera and Montel Williams. By the mid-1990s there were more than a dozen different

daytime talk shows available in syndication from which local broadcasters might choose.

Most talk shows highlight “ordinary people” talking about their personal experiences.

Some shows are more serious and restrained, focusing on issues with a social or policy

dimension such as sexual harassment, teen pregnancy, or gang violence; others are more

sensational or

tabloid,

centered on interpersonal conflict and confronta-tion (love

triangles, cheating spouses, or

family

feuds). Among the most controversial tabloid talk

shows are those of Jerry Springer, whose guests and audience members routinely argue,

shout and even come to physical blows, and Jenny Jones, whose onstage confrontations

have had serious real-life consequences, including murder.

ee also:

talk radio; late-night television

Further reading

Munson, W. (1993)

All Talk,

Philadelphia: Temple University.

Rose, B. (1985) “The Talk Show,” in Brian Rose (ed.),

TV Genres,

Westport:

Greenwood.

Shattuc, J. (1997)

The Talking Cure,

New York: Routledge.

LAURA GRINDSTAFF

Tan, Amy

b. 1924

Chinese American

novelist and child of immigrants, whose stories are interwoven into

her fiction. Tan has focused on relations of new and old mediated through complex and

painful relations of mother and daughter. Her first novel,

The Joy Luck Club

(1989), won

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the National Book Award and became a breakthrough movie depiction of

Asian

American

women beyond

Hollywood

stereotypes (1994). Later works include

The

itchen God’s Wife

(1991) and

The Hundred Secret Senses

(1996); she has also produced

children’s books and become involved in a literary band.

CINDY WONG

Tarantino, Quentin

b. 1963

Charismatic and creative independent

director

/ actor/

screenwriter/producer

whose

films show wide knowledge of popular genres and global cinema even as he has

transformed them. Emerging from his experience as a video clerk alternating with acting,

Tarantino’s eclectic sensibilities became apparent in

Reservoir Dogs

(1992), before

gaining global accolades with

Pulp Fiction

(1993). He continues to be both the creator

and subject of

mass media

attention; meanwhile, his

Jackie Brown

(1997) revitalized

blaxploitation

films across racial lines.

ee also:

independent films/video

CINDY WONG

tattoos

body piercing and tattoos

taxes

“In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” So wrote

Benjamin Franklin, American statesman, in 1789. To this day the rhetoric regarding taxes

often overshadows the reality of an immensely complex system of federal, state and local

taxation. Taxes, the nearly inevitable result of civilized society, support numerous

urposes. They raise revenue for government expenditures, redistribute wealth, and

rovide economic stability. Taxes play a predominant role in American political dialogue

through their creation, implementation and impact. Strong disagreement exists over the

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