Parlour and the Suburb: Domestic Identities, Class, Femininity and Modernity - Couverture souple

Giles, Judy

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1859737021 ISBN 13 : 9781859737026

Editeur : Berg Publishers, 2004

Synopsis

The Parlour and the Suburb challenges stereotypes about domesticity with a reevaluation of women's roles in the 'private' sphere. Classic accounts of modernity have generally ignored or marginalized women, relegating them to the private sphere of home, sexuality and personal relationships. This private sphere has been understood as a gendered space in which a non-modern femininity is opposed to the masculine world of politics, economics, urban life and the workplace. The author argues, however, that home and private life have been crucial spaces in which the interrelations of class and gender have been significant in the formation of modern feminine subjectivities.

Focusing on the first half of the twentieth century, The Parlour and the Suburb examines how women experienced and understood the home and private life in light of modernity. It explores the identities and self-definitions that domesticity inscribed and shows how these were central to women's sense of themselves as 'modern' individuals. The book draws on a range of cultural texts and practices to explore aspects of domestic modernity that have received little attention in most accounts of modern subjectivities. Topics covered include suburbia, consumption practices, domestic service and the wartime figure of the housewife. Texts examined include a range of women's magazines, George Orwell's Coming up for Air, Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, BBC Home Service's 'Help for Housewives' and oral history narratives.

'In this persuasively argued book Giles discusses the highly gendered nature of the concept of modernity which has, to date, marginalized the domestic space and women's traditional role as 'homemakers'.'Stephanie Spencer, Literature & History

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Judy Giles is Reader in Gender and Cultural Criticism, York St John's College

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Berg Publishers
• Date d'édition: 2004
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1859737021
• ISBN 13: 9781859737026
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 212
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
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