Consumerism and the Movement of Housewives into Wage Work

Download or read book Consumerism and the Movement of Housewives into Wage Work written by David R. Wells and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-12-17 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1998, this volume explores the connections between the rises in consumerism and the number of married women in paid work in light of the centrality of shopping and consumerism to the modern world. David R. Wells argues for women’s incomplete gains from consumerism through an analysis of married women’s employment, the structure of capitalism and the contradictory requirements of consumerism, the homemaker ideal and gender identity. Through this, Wells demonstrates how the gendered expectations of consumerism became motivating factors for women to join the workforce, resulting in higher standards of living and greater marital power.