Teenage life is tough. You're at the mercy of parents, teachers, and siblings, all of whom insist on continuing to treat you like a kid and refuse to leave you alone. So what do you do when it all gets to be too much? You retreat to your room (and maybe slam the door). Even in our era of Snapchat and hoverboards, bedrooms remain a key part of teenage life, one of the only areas where a teen can exert control and find some privacy. And while these separate bedrooms only became commonplace after World War II, the idea of the teen bedroom has been around for a long time. With "Get Out of My Room!", Jason Reid digs into the deep historical roots of the teen bedroom and its surprising cultural power. He starts in the first half of the nineteenth century, when urban-dwelling middle-class families began to consider offering teens their own spaces in the home, and he traces that concept through subsequent decades, as social, economic, cultural, and demographic changes caused it to become more widespread. Along the way, Reid shows us how the teen bedroom, with its stuffed animals, movie posters, AM radios, and other trappings of youthful identity, reflected the growing involvement of young people in American popular culture, and also how teens and parents, in the shadow of ongoing social changes, continually negotiated the boundaries of this intensely personal space. Richly detailed and full of surprising stories and insights, "Get Out of My Room!" is sure to offer insight and entertainment to anyone with wistful memories of their teenage years. (But little brothers should definitely keep out. )
About the Author
Jason Reid, a historian of childhood and youth, teaches at Ryerson University in Toronto.
Reviews
"During the nineteenth century, room arrangements for children – particularly teenagers – changed dramatically, with the unusual turn toward separate rooms. In 'Get Out of My Room!', Reid documents the causes of this change: shifts in prosperity, demographics, and, particularly, the advice of experts. He traces this trend across social groups, touching on gender, class, and race. Along the way, Reid picks up concomitants of this trend: patterns of decoration, technology and consumer goods, entertainments, parental concerns, and parental anxiety over sex and drugs. It's a comprehensive and compelling assessment of a major shift in the history of socialization and family relations" – Peter Stearns, George Mason University
"This richly researched history describes in vivid detail how teenagers acquired a room of their own, how the teen bedroom because a sanctuary for adolescent self-expression, and how this private space came to evoke parental anxieties over masturbation, psychological withdrawal, illicit smoking, drinking and drug use, and more recently, cyberbullying, sexting, and the time devoted to playing videogames or following social networking websites. As Reid makes clear, the teen bedroom fundamentally altered the relations between parents and adolescents, nurtured a distinctive teenage psychology, and provided a setting in which an autonomous teenage culture would flourish" – Steven Mintz, author of "Huck's Raft: A History of American Childhood"
"Reid uses the bedroom – that iconic symbol of youthful independence and angst – as a space where religion, child development, sexuality, creativity, gender, technology, and pop culture could be explored and, sometimes, controlled. Starting with the first hints of interest in providing separate spaces for youth in the early nineteenth century, and drawing on the points of view of teenagers, parents, and experts alike, 'Get Out of My Room' provides a fascinating look at youthful choices, parental concerns, and the evolving nature of coming of age in America" – James Marten, Marquette University
"Reid skillfully reveals the expansion of adolescence in America over the last two hundred years by tracing the history of the most intimate space in many young American's lives – their bedrooms. Opening the door to teen bedrooms, Reid reveals how young Americans experienced the shifting landscapes of class, race, urbanization and suburbanization, education, popular culture, and the growing secularization of society and family life. Ultimately, this history is a debate over dependency and autonomy, a fundamental question underlying the conflict over equality and power throughout American history" – Kriste Lindenmeyer, author of "The Greatest Generation Grows Up: American Childhood in the 1930s"
