Thinking about consumerism now and the way we have been exposed to its explosion after WWII is considerably different than the reality of the case. First and foremost, I didn't know women had such a high rate of involvement in the cause. When I think of consumerism, I think of women going out to stores buying appliances, groceries, and some luxuries while the husbands are out to work making money . However, women were the ones fueling the movement for price regulation and government involvement in FDA regulations. kaaa
I think during this period most of the US population underestimated the roles of women in the political and consumerism sphere of the nation. For example, the many businesses that had to eventually close down due to poor business because their prices were too high for consumers or their quality of product too poor. Women demanded equality in the consumer world and if they didn't receive it, the business men and women had to pay the price. During this period, women broke out of their domestic sphere and began demanding attention from the government and businesses which was a huge change in not only their roles, but their power and influence over the nation in general.
What I found particularly interesting was the shift from during the war and after the war in women's influence and power in the U.S. Women went from organizing movements in the consumer world and working, basically playing part of the male role to going back to their domestic sphere of playing housewife. They easily let their powerful image become deceased when their men came home after the war and took years after to regain their power in the Women's Movement.
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I really enjoyed this reading by Cohen. I, too, found her discussion about women's role in mass consumption very interesting and enlightening. Whereas most of our other readings showed men as the important, dominant historical influence, Cohen clearly illustrated the important effect women and African-Americans had on mass consumption.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to note the differences between the economic stimulus programs implemented after WWII as compared to now. Like you both said, the power rested in the hands of the people, more specifically women, and it was their duty to take proactive roles in stimulating the economy after the war. Nowadays, however, the power of the stimulus rests in the hands of the government, providing large financial institutions with bailout money, among other policies.
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