[BRIEF NOTE] Popular Culture = Soft Power

[rfmcdonald]

From the final paragraph of an article in the New York Times Magazine (free subscription required) commemorating the 75th anniversary of Nancy Drew and noting the impact of its autonomous heroine on generations of girls and women.

[T]he power of the Nancy Drew series is forceful enough to bear down on some of our most pressing current concerns. In a recent interview, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the outspoken member of Dutch Parliament and writer of the film ''Submission''--about Islam's mistreatment of women--explained how she got the courage to break with her religion at an early age, alienating her parents, among others. ''From the time I started reading novels of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, I wanted to be like Nancy Drew,'' she told Morley Safer matter-of-factly, showing yet again that the girl detective has become a woman for the ages.

Insert boilerplate paragraph regarding the power of popular culture to undermine traditional cultural norms in the most seemingly roundabout ways.