Comfort for the people and liberation for the housewife: Gender, consumption and refrigerators in Argentina (1930-60)

Autores
Pérez, Inés
Año de publicación
2012
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
The mass consumption of electric refrigerators in Argentina has been linked to several representations. On the one hand, it has occupied a central place in the rhetoric of "welfare democratisation" used by the Peronist government to present a "new Argentina". On the other hand, it took on a prominent role in the search for distinction by the growing middle class, and in the creation of social distance within the middle class. In both cases, the image of the housewife´s "liberation" from daily chores because of new appliances merged with the image of a successful "popularisation of comfort", the social model that fostered this image and the head of the household who could provide a better life for his family. The increase in refrigerator consumption changed the visibility of domestic work in a paradoxical way: as it became a frequent topic in several discursive spaces, it suggested that the housewife´s work had been (or would be) replaced by new appliances. In this article, I examine the meanings ascribed to this appliance through its representation in 45 life narratives and the narratives´ intertextual relationships with texts from the period. This analysis focuses on the ways in which the refrigerator became intertwined with the strategies of distinction used by those who could afford such a product. I also analyse the conditions that allowed the "popularisation" of refrigerators, as well as the discourses that made the product a "must-have".
Fil: Pérez, Inés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; Argentina
Materia
CONSUMPTION
DOMESTIC WORK
GENDER
MIDDLE CLASS
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 2.5 Argentina (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 AR)
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/105051

id CONICETDig_d1fb70fccf087d9a6ee7176473e34a5d
oai_identifier_str oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/105051
network_acronym_str CONICETDig
repository_id_str 3498
network_name_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
spelling Comfort for the people and liberation for the housewife: Gender, consumption and refrigerators in Argentina (1930-60)Pérez, InésCONSUMPTIONDOMESTIC WORKGENDERMIDDLE CLASShttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/6.1https://purl.org/becyt/ford/6The mass consumption of electric refrigerators in Argentina has been linked to several representations. On the one hand, it has occupied a central place in the rhetoric of "welfare democratisation" used by the Peronist government to present a "new Argentina". On the other hand, it took on a prominent role in the search for distinction by the growing middle class, and in the creation of social distance within the middle class. In both cases, the image of the housewife´s "liberation" from daily chores because of new appliances merged with the image of a successful "popularisation of comfort", the social model that fostered this image and the head of the household who could provide a better life for his family. The increase in refrigerator consumption changed the visibility of domestic work in a paradoxical way: as it became a frequent topic in several discursive spaces, it suggested that the housewife´s work had been (or would be) replaced by new appliances. In this article, I examine the meanings ascribed to this appliance through its representation in 45 life narratives and the narratives´ intertextual relationships with texts from the period. This analysis focuses on the ways in which the refrigerator became intertwined with the strategies of distinction used by those who could afford such a product. I also analyse the conditions that allowed the "popularisation" of refrigerators, as well as the discourses that made the product a "must-have".Fil: Pérez, Inés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; ArgentinaSAGE Publications2012-07info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/105051Pérez, Inés; Comfort for the people and liberation for the housewife: Gender, consumption and refrigerators in Argentina (1930-60); SAGE Publications; Journal of Consumer Culture; 12; 2; 7-2012; 156-1741741-2900CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1469540512446876info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1177/1469540512446876info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessAtribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 2.5 Argentina (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 AR)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-29T10:16:16Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/105051instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-09-29 10:16:16.475CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Comfort for the people and liberation for the housewife: Gender, consumption and refrigerators in Argentina (1930-60)
title Comfort for the people and liberation for the housewife: Gender, consumption and refrigerators in Argentina (1930-60)
spellingShingle Comfort for the people and liberation for the housewife: Gender, consumption and refrigerators in Argentina (1930-60)
Pérez, Inés
CONSUMPTION
DOMESTIC WORK
GENDER
MIDDLE CLASS
title_short Comfort for the people and liberation for the housewife: Gender, consumption and refrigerators in Argentina (1930-60)
title_full Comfort for the people and liberation for the housewife: Gender, consumption and refrigerators in Argentina (1930-60)
title_fullStr Comfort for the people and liberation for the housewife: Gender, consumption and refrigerators in Argentina (1930-60)
title_full_unstemmed Comfort for the people and liberation for the housewife: Gender, consumption and refrigerators in Argentina (1930-60)
title_sort Comfort for the people and liberation for the housewife: Gender, consumption and refrigerators in Argentina (1930-60)
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Pérez, Inés
author Pérez, Inés
author_facet Pérez, Inés
author_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv CONSUMPTION
DOMESTIC WORK
GENDER
MIDDLE CLASS
topic CONSUMPTION
DOMESTIC WORK
GENDER
MIDDLE CLASS
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/6.1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/6
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv The mass consumption of electric refrigerators in Argentina has been linked to several representations. On the one hand, it has occupied a central place in the rhetoric of "welfare democratisation" used by the Peronist government to present a "new Argentina". On the other hand, it took on a prominent role in the search for distinction by the growing middle class, and in the creation of social distance within the middle class. In both cases, the image of the housewife´s "liberation" from daily chores because of new appliances merged with the image of a successful "popularisation of comfort", the social model that fostered this image and the head of the household who could provide a better life for his family. The increase in refrigerator consumption changed the visibility of domestic work in a paradoxical way: as it became a frequent topic in several discursive spaces, it suggested that the housewife´s work had been (or would be) replaced by new appliances. In this article, I examine the meanings ascribed to this appliance through its representation in 45 life narratives and the narratives´ intertextual relationships with texts from the period. This analysis focuses on the ways in which the refrigerator became intertwined with the strategies of distinction used by those who could afford such a product. I also analyse the conditions that allowed the "popularisation" of refrigerators, as well as the discourses that made the product a "must-have".
Fil: Pérez, Inés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; Argentina
description The mass consumption of electric refrigerators in Argentina has been linked to several representations. On the one hand, it has occupied a central place in the rhetoric of "welfare democratisation" used by the Peronist government to present a "new Argentina". On the other hand, it took on a prominent role in the search for distinction by the growing middle class, and in the creation of social distance within the middle class. In both cases, the image of the housewife´s "liberation" from daily chores because of new appliances merged with the image of a successful "popularisation of comfort", the social model that fostered this image and the head of the household who could provide a better life for his family. The increase in refrigerator consumption changed the visibility of domestic work in a paradoxical way: as it became a frequent topic in several discursive spaces, it suggested that the housewife´s work had been (or would be) replaced by new appliances. In this article, I examine the meanings ascribed to this appliance through its representation in 45 life narratives and the narratives´ intertextual relationships with texts from the period. This analysis focuses on the ways in which the refrigerator became intertwined with the strategies of distinction used by those who could afford such a product. I also analyse the conditions that allowed the "popularisation" of refrigerators, as well as the discourses that made the product a "must-have".
publishDate 2012
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2012-07
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/105051
Pérez, Inés; Comfort for the people and liberation for the housewife: Gender, consumption and refrigerators in Argentina (1930-60); SAGE Publications; Journal of Consumer Culture; 12; 2; 7-2012; 156-174
1741-2900
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/105051
identifier_str_mv Pérez, Inés; Comfort for the people and liberation for the housewife: Gender, consumption and refrigerators in Argentina (1930-60); SAGE Publications; Journal of Consumer Culture; 12; 2; 7-2012; 156-174
1741-2900
CONICET Digital
CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1469540512446876
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1177/1469540512446876
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 2.5 Argentina (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 AR)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 2.5 Argentina (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 AR)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv SAGE Publications
publisher.none.fl_str_mv SAGE Publications
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
collection CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
_version_ 1844614105750568960
score 13.070432