Renee Berkus Blog #1 (Potential Final Paper Topics)



I have two thoughts for my final paper topic, these include my Blundstone work-boots and toothpaste.  Clearly two very different approaches.

Initially Blundstone boots came to my mind because they are a daily staple of my wardrobe.  As Viticulture and Enology Student here at Davis, it is almost a necessity to own a pair of these boots.  They have become the symbol of the California working winemaker, and owning a pair puts you in the know.  Wearing scuffed up boots proves that you have worked a wine harvest, and therefore have earned your right of passage into the industry. They are gender neutral so working men and women wear the same model.  I could discuss the history of the brand, about the boot's social role in the industry, and the leather/other materials they are made of.

Alternatively, I could talk about toothpaste and how it is now a completely necessary and habitual object in our society.  I could talk about how it was invented and how it was advertised.  About the health impacts and how it plays into American’s obsession with perfect smiles and perfect teeth.  I could then move into more broad beauty obsessions and hygienic products that we don’t think much of, but couldn’t imagine living without.   

The more I have thought about it, I think I would prefer to examine toothpaste as an every day object because it is so universal.  My Blundstone’s are one of my favorite articles of clothing, but they are in no way groundbreaking.  

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