Making Meaning of Consumer Culture “Charity Girls” Participate in Commercialized Leisure in Early 20 th -century New York
In The Teddy Bear Factory, New York, 1915
Charity Girls “working women defined as respectable, but who engaged in sexual activity” (337)
Working women in 1907 outside of the Dix building displaying their careful attention to fashion. Photo courtesy of the New York Public Library. Sexuality and Working-Class Cultural Style
Millworkers, circa 1900 Lewis Hine photograph Wage-earners before marriage Wage-earners before marriage Semi-skilled, seasonal jobs Semi-skilled, seasonal jobs Few earned “living wage” Few earned “living wage” Vast wage differential between men and women Vast wage differential between men and women
New, enticing commercial amusements New, enticing commercial amusements Young working women had few resources for entertainment Young working women had few resources for entertainment “cheap amusements” offered freedom from adult control “cheap amusements” offered freedom from adult control Coney Island beach goers, circa 1900
Young working class women at play on the beach at Coney Island, late 19 th century
Treating Underlying the relaxed sexual style and heterosocial interaction was the custom of “treating”.… (333) Underlying the relaxed sexual style and heterosocial interaction was the custom of “treating”.… (333)
Importance of Commercialized Leisure The growth of large public dance halls, cabarets, and metropolitan amusement resorts provided an anonymous space in which the subculture of treating could flourish. (337) Coney Island postcard, n.d.
Peiss vs. Adorno and Horkheimer