Home Truths: Gender, Domestic Objects and Everyday Life

Homes are defined by smells, sounds, textures and objects, all of which reflect how people live their everyday lives. From spray-painting the wall to relaxing in the bath, the products we use speak volumes about who we are. Home Truths explores material and sensory spaces of the home to uncover how gender roles are performed. Sarah Pink shows how everyday items ranging from perfumes to soap powder imprint and reinforce daily experiences and identity. How has the home been affected by the fact that more women now work and more men spend time engaged in domestic tasks? How do more traditional family-centered homes compare with those belonging to diverse family forms and people living alone? What does a study of domestic gender tell us about how change occurs? Answering these questions and many more, Home Truths shows how everyday activities can be deeply revealing of gender roles in the twenty first century.

Homes are defined by smells, sounds, textures and objects, all of which reflect how people live their everyday lives. From spray-painting the wall to relaxing in the bath, the products we use speak volumes about who we are. Home Truths explores material and sensory spaces of the home to uncover how gender roles are performed. Sarah Pink shows how everyday items ranging from perfumes to soap powder imprint and reinforce daily experiences and identity. How has the home been affected by the fact that more women now work and more men spend time engaged in domestic tasks? How do more traditional family-centered homes compare with those belonging to diverse family forms and people living alone? What does a study of domestic gender tell us about how change occurs? Answering these questions and many more, Home Truths shows how everyday activities can be deeply revealing of gender roles in the twenty first century.

Sarah Pink is Lecturer in Sociology, Loughborough University.