Italian Women's Experiences with American Consumer Culture, 1945 1975

This book analyzes the spread of American female consumer culture to Italy and its influence on Italian women in the postwar and Cold War periods, eras marked by the political, economic, social, and cultural battle between the United States and Soviet Union. Focusing on various aspects of this culturebeauty and hygiene products, refrigerators, and department stores, as well as shopping and magazine modelsthe book examines the reasons for and the methods of American female consumer culture's arrival in Italy, the democratic, consumer capitalist messages its products sought to sell to Italian women, and how Italian women themselves reacted to this new cultural presence in their everyday lives. Did Italian women become the American Mrs. Consumer? As such, the book illustrates how the modern, consuming American woman became a significant figure not only in Italy's postwar recovery and transformation, but also in the international and domestic cultural and social contests for the hearts and minds of Italian women.

Focuses on the intersection of Italian women and American consumerism, using memoirs and oral histories of Italian women to understand and highlight how women's social and cultural lives were affected by American mass consumer culture Examines multiple areas of American consumer cultural influence, from women's magazines to hygiene products, to illustrate the breadth of American female consumer culture's presence in post-war Italy Appeals to scholars of modern Italian studies, modern European history, US history, and Women's and Gender studies

Auteur
Jessica L. Harris is currently Visiting Assistant Professor in the History Department of Allegheny College, USA, and will be joining St. John's University as Assistant Professor of History. She is a scholar of Modern Italy, Black Europe, 20th century U.S. and the World, and African American History. Jessica has held fellowships at the University of Toronto, Canada and Oxford University, UK. Her work has appeared in Modern Italy, Imago. Studi di cinema e media, and Carte Italiane.

Résumé
"The argument of this book is well articulated ... . This is an engaging, well-written book, suitable for multiple audiences, from undergraduates to specialists. It addresses an understudied topic in a sophisticated yet accessible way by bringing together both archival and original materials and experiences. ... the claims of the book are solid and compelling, and an important contribution to the study of Italy in the postwar period as well as to women's studies." (Giovanna Parmigiani, Modern Italy, April 8, 2021)

Contenu

1. Introduction: Italy and the Arrival of Mrs. Consumer.- Part I.- 2. How to Read like Mrs. Consumer: Modernizing and Americanizing the Mondadori Publishing Company's Magazine Division.- 3. How to Shop and Dress like Mrs. Consumer: Rebuilding La Rinascente the American Way.- Part II.- 4. How to Shop, Store, and Cook Food like Mrs. Consumer: The Refrigerator, Women, and the Italian Home.- 5. How to Be Beautiful like Mrs. Consumer: American Beauty and Italian Women.- Part III.- 6. The Catholic and Communist Mrs. Consumer.- 7. Were They Really Mrs. Consumers?.- 8. Conclusion.