Rachel Bowlby Unexpected Items: "Shopping, Parenthood, Changing Feminist Stories"

Unexpected Items explores the transformations of women's defining identities in the mid-twentieth century, including consumer culture and parenthood, through marketing manuals, newspaper stories, novels, and tragedies. It argues for the uses and pleasures of critical reading as a historical method, showing how meanings move on in the light of new contexts and questions and how looking close up at the way the words work can be a source of new thinking.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 31 July 2024
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

The mid-twentieth-century woman was often portrayed as a housewife and mother who focused on shopping. However, her defining identities have undergone significant transformations over time, with a blurring of gender boundaries and a strong emphasis on expanding choices and diverse narratives. This book explores these changes through the lens of consumer culture and parenthood, drawing from a wide range of sources, including marketing manuals, newspaper stories, novels, and tragedies, spanning from Austen to Aeschylus. Unexpected Items advocates for the value and enjoyment of critical reading as a historical method, highlighting how meanings evolve in different contexts and how close attention to the language can lead to fresh insights. The roles of the woman, mother, consumer, and parent—as well as their respective stories—are constantly evolving, reflecting the changing dynamics of society.

Weight: 532g
Dimension: 241 x 163 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781399528405