"At the end of World War II, many Americans longed for a return to a more normal way of life after decades of depression and war. In fact, between 1945 and 1963 the idea of "normality" circulated as a keyword in almost every aspect of American culture. In Perfectly Average, Anna Creadick investigates how and why this concept reemerged as a potent homogenizing category in postwar America. Working with scientific studies, material culture, literary texts, film, fashion, and the mass media, she charts the pursuit of the "normal" through thematic chapters on the body, character, class, sexuality, and community." ""Anna Creadick discovers an extraordinary archive.
Introduction : situation normal -- Model bodies, normal curves -- Normalizing the nation : the study of American character -- Passing for normal : fashioning a postwar middle class -- From queer to eternity : normalizing heterosexuality in fact and fiction -- Picture windows and Peyton Place : exposing normality in postwar communities -- Conclusion : home, normal home.
Bibliography (note)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access (note)
Access restricted to authorized users.
Author
Creadick, Anna G., 1967-
Title
Perfectly average [electronic resource] : the pursuit of normality in postwar America / Anna G. Creadick.
Imprint
Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, c2010.