“Ideally, the corporate character is a woman, between the ages of 32 and 40, attractive, but not competitively so, mature but youthful-looking, competent yet warm, understanding but not sentimental, interested in the consumer but not involved with her,” Tide, March 22, 1957
Now the new quarter is in full swing I am making really good progress through my texts. I have officially finished “Choosing Wisley” by Dr. Rachel Vaughn, in the coming weeks I will publish a short reflection of the essay where I will go into more detail about my learnings and their applications in current affairs but I do want to take a moment to highlight the key points of moralized consumerism, corporate blame, and the greenwashing of nutrition
What is at the heart of pollution and the rising climate crisis? Big businesses may try and point us in the direction of plastic straws and grocery bags, too many cars on the road, and too many people eating meat or food grown with pesticides. And while no one can reasonably argue that all of these are issues of moderation, they shoulder the blame for the Climate Crisis onto the individual consumer rather than take responsibility for the fact that a majority of greenhouse gas emissions can be traced back to a handful of mega-corporations.
Another note is on greenwashing and the way that as a society we have shifted to a “good food bad food” model, placing food with words like “organic” and “all-natural” on a pedestal, encouraging consumers to only opt for these brands and options, and once again transferring the blame back to the individual. It also completly overlooked the scocioeconomics, foods that have been given these greenwashed titles are notably more expensive than their generic counterparts and just not an accessable option for many people.
This week I also started “‘I Guarantee’ Betty Crocker and Woman in the Kitchen” by Laura Shapiro, which details the fascinating history of Betty Crocker, the completly fictcious character created by the General Mills brand. It s one essay that is a part of a mauch larger collection of essays about food and gender studies, aptly titled “From Betty Crocker to Feminist Food Studies”. This chapter goes in depth about the history of Betty Crocker, her creation after World War II and her many evolutions through print, radio and TV. I will have a better update next week when I have finished but I am already really enjoying it and I think it will have some really good connections to my first reading.