Making war, making women : femininity and duty on the American home front, 1941-1945 / Melissa A. McEuen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McEuen, Melissa A., 1961-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women--United States--History--20th century.

Women.

World War, 1939-1945--United States.

World War, 1939-1945.

Femininity--United States--History--20th century.

Femininity.

Advertising--Cosmetics--History--20th century.

Advertising.

Advertising--Clothing and dress--History--20th century.

United States.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (287 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Athens : University of Georgia Press, c2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The author examines how extensively women's bodies and minds became "battlegrounds" in the U.S. fight for victory in World War II. Women were led to believe that the nation's success depended on their efforts, not just on factory floors, but at their dressing tables, bathroom sinks, and laundry rooms. They were to fill their arsenals with lipstick, nail polish, creams, and cleansers in their battles to meet the standards of ideal womanhood touted in magazines, newspapers, billboards, posters, pamphlets and in the rapidly expanding pinup genre. Scrutinized and sexualized in new ways, women understood that their faces, clothes, and comportment would indicate how seriously they took their responsibilities as citizens. The author also shows that the wartime rhetoric of freedom, democracy, and postwar opportunity coexisted uneasily with the realities of a racially stratified society. The context of war created and reinforced whiteness, and McEuen explores how African Americans grappled with whiteness as representing the true American identity. Using perspectives of cultural studies and feminist theory, this book offers a broad look at how women on the American home front grappled with a political culture that used their bodies in service of the war effort.

Contents:

All-American masks : creaming and coloring the wartime face

Tender hands and average legs : shaping disparate extremities

Pleasant aromas and good scents : cleansing the body politic

Proper attire and streamlined silhouettes : clothing the home front figure

Sacrifice and agreeability : cultivating right minds.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613164469

9781283164467

1283164469

9780820337586

0820337587

OCLC:

740435950

Publisher Number:

2027/heb34638 hdl