Fabian Drixler has written a historical account of Japanese infanticide for the University of California Press. Over at New Books in East Asian Studies, they’ve done a podcast with the author. Here’s how they promote it:

The book opens on a scene in the mountains of Gumna, Japan. A midwife kneels next to a mother who has just given birth, and she proceeds to strangle the newborn. It’s an arresting way to begin an inspiring new book by Fabian Drixler. Mabiki: Infanticide and Population Growth in Eastern Japan, 1660-1950 (University of California Press, 2013) weaves together demographic analysis and cultural history to chart the transformations in infanticide, population, and society in Japan from the late seventeenth century through the twentieth century. Focusing on Eastern Japan as a unit of analysis, Mabiki bases its narrative on a rich source base compiled with the help of the work of “a thousand local historians.” In a rich account of cultures of family planning in Eastern Japan, Drixler both challenges dominant theories of fertility transitions in demographic history, while at the same time redefining what “fertility” might mean as a historical object. It is a fascinating book that speaks to a wide range of readers interested in the histories and life cycles of birth and death as locally emergent objects. Enjoy!

“Enjoy!” A book about infanticide? It’s the feel-good sociology book of the year! Holy cow.

Disclaimer: I haven’t read Drixler’s book and I’m sure it’s great. I just would have pimped it somewhat differently.

In retrospect, the most surprising aspect of this story is that it took ten years for Charlotte Simmons to become quaint.

Side note: There’s a really interesting inversion of moral norms here. Check out this bit from the comments section of the story:

a current sophomore whose identity was easily discovered given his username and the Duke directory just posted Lauren’s real name and stage name on another (very popular) website’s comment section. while her identity is fairly well known on campus and the consequences are clearly hers to deal with now, it is extremely irresponsible and reproachable to post the girl’s personal information for the Internet to see. this is a fellow duke student, and he just risked her personal safety and professional future for the sake of a few internet “likes.” absolutely pathetic and indefensible move.

So the idea of passing moral judgment on someone creating pornography is a non-starter. But “revealing” the identity of the pornographer is “indefensible.”

It can be tempting to think that modern America is an amoral demolition derby for values, but that’s not right. In many ways, we’re more rigidly judgmental than the Victorians ever were. It’s just that the values which the culture prizes have shifted.

New York has an interesting piece on Mike Jeffries, the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch (which might be the only mainstream clothing retailer from whom I’ve never purchased anything). Here’s how the piece starts. Stay with me, because I’m doing a long quote with all the atmospherics for a reason:

The corporate headquarters of Abercrombie & Fitch, one of the largest apparel retailers in the world, spills across 500 acres of dense Ohio woodland, about fifteen miles from downtown Columbus. From the outside, the central office cluster resembles an Adirondack lodge as envisioned by a Brutalist—all hard lines and weather-beaten wood. Meals are served in a barn finished in rusted steel, and in the summer, companywide meetings are held in an exposed-concrete courtyard in front of a large fireplace.

Officially, the complex is the work of Ross Anderson of the New York firm Anderson Architects, but it clearly bears the fingerprints of Mike Jeffries, Abercrombie’s famously autocratic CEO. Jeffries, Anderson has said, “wanted to make sure the architecture and the brand both spoke in the same voice. They share the same DNA. Each reinforces the other.” To enter Abercrombie headquarters is to travel back in time to the world portrayed in the iconic catalogues of the late nineties—everyone is young, good-looking, and, despite the harsh Ohio winters, exceptionally tan. A miasma of Fierce cologne hangs in the air, and pulsating pop echoes through the corridors.

Jeffries, who at 69 years old still has the blond hair of an Abercrombie model—“Dude, I’m not an old fart,” he has said of the dye job—works on the second floor in an airy, sun-splashed conference room. He typically receives guests in his standard uniform: an Abercrombie polo shirt, artfully distressed jeans, and a pair of old flip-flops.

That’s a great lede, yes? Fine work. Though I was then surprised to read (much) further down:

(Abercrombie representatives declined to make Jeffries available for interviews.)

This isn’t wholly incompatible with the lede. When you go back to it, the “has” and the “typically” in the third graph do stick out.

While we’re on the subject, the first Guardians of the Galaxy trailer is out. (i09 has a frame-by-frame breakdown of it here.) As previously noted, I am not down with the cross-polination of sci-fi and superheroes. In the same way that I don’t cotton on to mysticism and superheroes–no Dr. Strange or Dr. Fate; no Specter or Zatana–I like  sci-fi, or superheroes, but I prefer my genres silo-ed. If there must be aliens, then plop them on earth and leave them there, Kal-El style. Send a great superhero team like the X-Men or the Teen Titans into space, and I tuned out. In particular, the Guardians of the Galaxy comics did nothing for me as a kid. Zero. Left me totally cold.

And yet . . .

This Guardians of the Galaxy project like it has such a perfectly-pitched tone. Something like Raiders meets Star Wars. And it strikes me that what the world needs right now is a great comic space-opera. I am in.

As the kids say, I suspect it will make all of the money.

Three movies have been made about the Fantastic Four and all of them vie for the title of Worst FF Movie Ever. But now we have a fourth entrant!

Fox has cast its latest Fantastic Four reboot. Have a look. How about that Reid Richards–looks an awful lot like a young Screech, doesn’t he? And then there’s the diversity stunt casting of Johnny Storm, who’s clearly an adoptive brother now. Gotta make it relevant to today’s kids!

But the worst piece of casting? Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm. Because nothing says Giant palooka turned football star turned big-hearted rock monster like the waifish, grown-up child star from Billie Elliot. It’s like the Elton Bane in reverse.

I know what you’re thinking, because I’m thinking it too: Please make The Thing gay . . . Please make The Thing gay—the movie can’t be truly relevant without it. Think of all the fawning coverage in the NYT for the first gay superhero in a mainstream movie!

I got two of my most precious comics from a vending machine at the Maryland House, a rest stop midway down I-95 in Maryland. When I was a kid, they had, just inside the doorway, next to Coke machines and the like, a vending machine which spit out comic books. You put in two quarters and you got a comic at random. One lucky afternoon on the way south from NJ, I got the first two books of “The Judas Contract,” which remains one of my favorite comic book arcs of all time.

And now the original George Perez cover art for Book One is for sale. Steady . . . steady . . .

I don’t pine for stuff very often [That’s a filthy lie. -ed] but boy, howdy, do I wish I could buy this thing. Have a look:

The Judas Contract, Book One

Out in San Francisco. The biggest part of the scandal might well be the extent which which the more professional cops seem to have no inclination to change the behavior of the ones breaking the law.

Over at the Federalist, Rachel Lu has one of the best pieces I’ve seen on the parent/child-free divide. Some highlights:

Parenting (as you’ve surmised) is hard. People used to get some preparation for it, through babysitting and younger-sibling care, and just by living in places where kids were a regular part of life. Nowadays many people spend their early adulthood in childless university campuses or urban “kiddie deserts,” and any children are seen, if at all, only on flickering screens. It is no longer strange to make it to age 30 without ever changing a diaper. Should we be surprised if adjustment to family life is often a bit rocky?

When and if people do take the plunge, they’re expected to soldier on side by side with still-childless people who, instead of running to support and congratulate new parents, often look from the sidelines with a skeptical detachment, or even a challenging “prove to me that this hare-brained childbearing scheme won’t sweep you away into irrelevance” glare. Obviously, this does not help. When parenthood was a natural, expected step along the path to established adulthood, it probably seemed easier, but also was easier. By recasting parenthood as a choice, we’ve increased the challenges for those who do choose it, while diminishing the available support.