In an earlier post, Caroline Heldman offered a typology of objectification. No. 6 was a conflation of a person with a commodity. This photo of a display at the 1936 Los Angeles Electrical Exposition seems to qualify, but somehow that doesn’t make it any less charming!
Hat tip: Retronaut.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 12
LegoLewdite — January 6, 2013
I find a great, classic example of this in the fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast. In the relatively recent Disney adaptation as well as earilier incarnations, the servants are literally turned into furniture...
Sunday Fun: Modern Appliance Girls, 1936 » Sociological Images | digitalnews2000 — January 6, 2013
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myblackfriendsays — January 6, 2013
I wanna be the lightbulb!
SociologicalMe — January 7, 2013
At least the women in this picture actually look like the things, rather than like insanely oversexualized versions of the things.
decius — January 7, 2013
There's a difference between calling things people and calling people things.
Leilanea — January 7, 2013
Hm... I'm a bit disappointed in the lack of crediting. Google Search by Image makes this really easy, so it's pretty lazy.
So here goes: This image is from the Otto Bettmann Archive, which belongs to Corbis. Here:
http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/SF33843/young-women-dressed-in-electrical-appliance-costumes
The original caption from October 1936 read: "An ultra-modern dance of the Los Angeles Electrical Age Exposition,
which is a continuation of the Boulder Power inaugural ceremonies, are
shown here on October 9th. Pretty girls animate giant fans, heaters,
waffle irons, radios, vacuum cleaners, and other domestic appliances in a
unique rhythm."
Jitterbuzz has much background on such 1930s appliance shows:
http://www.jitterbuzz.com/aplsho.html
There is a lot to see here, to start with the easy pickings go to the Westinghouse section and... race relations. Or at the top search "Good for the Whole Family" and check out the "It's always Summertime in your kitchen" ad.
Jitterbuzz writes that the picture of the appliance women was from the afterparty of the show. A sort of ball for the sellers and buyers.