The Secret History of Home Economics: How Trailblazing Women Harnessed the Power of Home and Changed the Way We Live

Format: Hardcover Language: English ISBN: 1324004495 ISBN13: 9781324004493 Release Date: May 2021 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Length: 368 Pages Weight: 1.35 lbs. Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.3" x 9.1" The term "home economics" may conjure traumatic memories of lopsided hand-sewn pillows or sunken muffins. But common conception obscures the story of the revolutionary science of better living. The field exploded opportunities for women in the twentieth century by reducing domestic work and providing jobs as professors, engineers, chemists, and businesspeople. And it has something to teach us today.In the surprising, often fiercely feminist and always fascinating The Secret History of Home Economics, Danielle Dreilinger traces the field's history from Black colleges to Eleanor Roosevelt to Okinawa, from a Betty Crocker brigade to DIY techies. These women--and they were mostly women--became chemists and marketers, studied nutrition, health, and exercise, tested para