Beauty And Business

Beauty seems simple; we know it when we see it. But of course our ideas about what is attractive are influenced by a broad range of social and economic factors, and in Beauty and Business leading historians set out to provide this important cultural context. How have retailers shaped popular consciousness about beauty? And how, in turn, have cultural assumptions influenced the commodification of beauty? The contributors here look to particular examples in order to address these questions, turning their attention to topics ranging from the social role of the African American hair salon, and the sexual dynamics of bathing suits and shirtcollars, to the deeper meanings of corsets and what the Avon lady tells us about changing American values. As a whole, these essays force us to reckon with the ways that beauty has been made, bought, and sold in modern America.

"Until recently, business historians have not yielded to beauty - at least as a subject of scholarly inquiry. But beauty is big business."
—( Kathy Peiss, from the Introduction )

Beauty seems simple; we know it when we see it. But of course our ideas about what is attractive are influenced by a broad range of social and economic factors, and in Beauty and Business leading historians set out to provide this important cultural context. How have retailers shaped popular consciousness about beauty? And how, in turn, have cultural assumptions influenced the commodification of beauty? The contributors here look to particular examples in order to address these questions, turning their attention to topics ranging from the social role of the African American hair salon, the sexual dynamics of bathing suits and shirtcollars, and the deeper meanings of corsets, to what the Avon lady tells us about changing American values. As a whole, these essays force us to reckon with the ways that beauty has been made, bought, and sold in modern America.

Library Journal

In this scholarly and illuminating work, Scranton (history, Rutgers Univ.; Endless Novelty: Specialty, Production and American Industrialization, 1865-1925) has compiled 12 essays that document the cross-cultural presence of women in the world of business during the 19th and 20th centuries. One common theme is that while women played a key role in business during this time, their presence was clearly overlooked and, in many instances, exploited. Thus, little is known about the African American women entrepreneurs who created an economic niche for themselves by becoming proprietors of thriving beauty shops. The section on "breast prostheses after mastectomy since 1945" asks, "How did a `surgical appliance' that catered to a narrow and specific consumer base evolve into a beauty product?" The book further notes that to get women to purchase certain restricting undergarments, they had to be imbued with the notion that their bodies were flawed. Well-researched notes follow each of three sections: "Images and Reform," "Business and Work," and "Constructing Commodities." Recommended for business historians and upper-division academic libraries with women's studies programs.--Bellinda Wise, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Philip Scranton is the Governor's Board Professor at Rutgers, editor of the journal Enterprise and Society, and director of research at the Hagley Center. He is author of several books, including Endless Novelty: Specialty Production and American Industrialization (1997).