Women, Consumption and Paradox

by Timothy de Waal Malefyt (Editor), Maryann McCabe (Editor)

Overview

Women are the world’s most powerful consumers, yet they are largely marketed to erroneously through misconceptions and patriarchal views that distort the reality of women’s lives, bodies, and work. This book examines the contradictions and mismatches between women’s everyday experiences and market representations. It considers how women themselves exhibit paradoxical behaviour in both resisting and supporting conflicting messages. The volume emphasizes paradox as a form of agency and negotiation through which women develop dialogical meanings. The contributions highlight the ways in which women transform inconsistencies and contradictions in advertising and marketing, global consumption practices, and material consumption into positive practices for living. The rich range of ethnographic accounts, drawn from countries including the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Denmark, Japan, and China, provide readers with a valuable perspective on consumer behaviour.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367186128
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/06/2020
Series:	Anthropology & Business
Pages:	276
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Timothy de Waal Malefyt is a Clinical Professor of Marketing at the Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University, New York. A trained anthropologist, he has over 15 years of business experience working in advertising firms.

Maryann McCabe is a Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology, University of Rochester, New York. She is Founder and Principal of Cultural Connections LLC, with over 20 years of consumer research experience.

Table of Contents

List of figures vii

List of tables ix

Notes on contributors x

Foreword Rita Denny xiv

Acknowledgements xvi

Introduction: women, consumption and paradox Timothy de Waal Malefyt Maryann McCabe 1

Part I Gender engagements, consumption interactions and marketplace ambiguities 25

1 Women and chocolate: identity narratives of sensory and sensual enjoyment Maryann McCabe Timothy de Waal Malefyt 27

2 'Shapewear or nothing to wear': the ambiguity of shape wear in the plus-size fashion market Daiane Scaraboto Maria Carolina Zanette 55

3 Creating interactional alignment in call center customer care Margaret H. Szymanski Patricia Wall Jennifer Watts-Englert 78

4 Financial technology and the gender gap: designing and delivering services for women Erin B. Taylor Anette Brolos 103

5 Being connected: mobile phones in the lives of domestic workers in Mexico City Carmen Bueno Sandra Alarcon 129

6 Untangling women's braided relationships with music Barbara Ohen 144

Part II Histories of gender imageries and practices in flux 167

7 Women under control: advertising and the business of female health, 1890-1950 Marina Frid Everardo Rocha 169

8 Company uniforms and gender dynamics in the Japanese workplace Tomoko Hamada 188

9 Women's consumption of cosmetic products in China: between logistics, conflict and symbolism Dominique Desjeux Yang Xiao Min 205

10 Shifts and paradoxes of gender over the course of a career Patricia Sunderland 219

11 Little luxuries: decency, deservingness and delight Russell Belk 239

Index 253