http://www.bonkersinstitute.org/medshow/kidhelp.html
Rick Warren’s 2002 spiritual guidance book title “The purpose driven life” speaks to the somatic contagion of what it means to ‘purposely’ direct behavior and your life toward meaningful goals. In this case spiritually; but not semantically off from the 1975 ad campaign for Cylert directed at medicating children with “minimal brain dysfunction” a.k.a hyperactive in the aims of directing these children to maintaining more purposeful behavior. Realizing now, that Mr. Warren, born in 1954 would have been subjected to the social contagion of what it meant to have purposeful behavior in his youth when add like this were being propagated around the social expectations of children. Maybe the success of his book was partially attached to the somatic contagion of what living purposefully semantically means to our society.
By categorizing purposeful behavior in code for normalcy, this add not only advertises the medication but also a definition of normal to society. It is hard to reject in the era the American Dream was realizing itself how any person would react to the suggestion that they or their children are not living purposefully and that intellect aside it is how you are acting that is making the social difference that will determine success. That is what this add claims. By creating the boundary of normalcy in behavior that need to be medicated in order to succeed to the likes of undirected, hyperactive, and disruptive along with countering it to definitions of the normal behavior of the attentive, well behaved, and organized child; adds like these allowed society to further claim the need for purpose. Just like warren’s book would suggest if you are not able to live your life purposefully then you are in the need of moral adjustment and spiritual overhaul.
The social acceptance of the importance of being normal and successful is now rooted in the American way by adds like these. Schools and the teachers that aid in teaching the social facts of life along with the ABC’s are key pedagogical institutions to normalizing, rewarding normal behavior that not only eases the teaching process but also adheres to socially constructed ways of acting. By being able to medicate these children to merely allow them to socially fit in in order to succeed in school and life we have added to the power of what the word purpose means and how we are supposed to integrate it into our behavior and our understanding of what normal is.
First, interesting that all of the pictures in your add are male...
ReplyDeleteSecond, I think normalizing and idealizing in America is much the same thing. It is interesting that living a purposeful life, as you discuss, in inherently viewed as living a successful life.