Title: Fantastic, Enlightening Work
Review: It's been a while since I read this book (in Fall 2002), but I remember being highly surprised with what it taught about how the contemporary, taken-for-granted ideological practices of cleanliness (daily bathing, soap, house cleaning), etc., came into being during the time period discussed, and how class and race (racism) functioned -- more blatantly then -- to promote certain practices and consumer products to the point that they now are often assumed to be "universal" and go unquestioned in terms of their historical development. Additionally -- and not mentioned in the reviews -- is the discussion of resulting fetishizations, particularly in the accounts of certain historical persons. It's a fascinating read, and includes hard visual evidence of the racist advertising that promoted certain practices and products that have continued from the colonial past to today.
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