Social History

How 'White Bread' Became 'White Trash'

Aaron Bobrow-Strain | Posted 05.23.2012

Read More: White Bread, Bread, White Trash, Counterculture, White Bread Humor, History, Social History, Books News
Aaron Bobrow-Strain

In 1970, Richard Pryor stormed off stage in the middle of his popular Las Vegas nightclub act, refusing to do another minute of "white bread humor."

Read Post

The Sometimes Sordid History of the American Quest for Bliss in Marriage

Bella DePaulo | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Second-Wave Feminism, Glbt, Legal Relationship, Premarital Counseling, More Perfect Unions, ?€œCuring? Homosexuality, Divorce, Healthy Marriages, Domestic Partnerships, Heterosexuality, Marriage Education, Civil Unions, Happiness, Rebecca Davis, Marriage Counseling, Social History, Singlism, Resilience of Marriage, Egalitarian Marriages, Poor, Social Class, African Americans, Search for Marital Bliss, Great Depression, Books News
Bella DePaulo

Instead of simply teaching people to have 'healthy' marriages, marriage counseling taught Americans to define marriage itself as a healthy state of being.

Read Post

Americans Have More Friends, and Not Just on Facebook

Bella DePaulo | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Barry Wellman, Faux Friends, Friends, Sociological Analyses, Close Friends, Economic Disparity, Income, Emotional Sharing, Television, Relatives, Social Connections, Social Networks, Media Panic, Surveys, Robert Putnam, Claude Fischer, Neighbors, Internet Use, Nostalgia, Self-Disclosure, Confidants, Myths, Loneliness, USA Today, Education, Social Ties, Social History, Internet, Social Isolation, New York Times, Facebook Friends, Bowling Alone, Miller McPherson, Healthy Living News
Bella DePaulo

Remember the media panic from the summer of 2006 about lonely and isolated Americans? The publication of a sociological study had unleashed a cascade...

Read Post