`House Beautiful': Style and Consumption in the Home

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Abstract
In this article we explore alternative meanings and functions of home-directed consumption, in particular those aspects of consumption which have to do with presentation and appearance (fittings, furnishings and decor). Our focus is on popular taste, on those whose needs are met principally by mass marketing rather than the avant garde or the connoisseur. Recent debates have drawn attention to the possibility of pleasure and self-expression through consumption: contrasting the active shaping of cultures of consumption with the notion of consumer as mere passive recipient, manipulated by business interests. Our work suggests that neither view gives a satisfactory account of the complex meanings of consumption in the home. `Home' carries a heavy ideological weight and these meanings permeate interpretation of consumption for the home. Questions of style, design and tastefulness evidently cause anxiety, but they are largely subsumed by familial values (a relaxed, comfortable haven) and also by the desire to maintain `respectability' through maintaining high house-keeping standards. We argue that women are frequently caught in the crux of the tensions these conflicting goals create.

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