Home Truths : Gender, Domestic Objects and Everyday Life

Homes are powerfully defined by smells, sounds, textures and objects, all of which reflect how people live their everyday lives. From spray-painting the toilet wall to relaxing in the bath, the products we use speak volumes about who we are, how we relate to others and who we want to be. Based on extensive fieldwork, this fascinating book explores the intimate, material and sensory spaces of the home to uncover how gender roles are performed within our personal, private worlds. Pink shows how everyday items ranging from perfumes to soap powder imprint and reinforce daily experiences and a sense of identity. How has the home been affected by the fact that more and more women now go to work and increasingly more men spend time engaged in domestic tasks? How do more traditional family-centred homes compare with those belonging to diverse family forms and people living alone? What does a study of domestic gender tell us about how change occurs? Answering these questions and many more, Pink combines the most recent approaches in gender studies and material culture to show how everyday activities can be deeply revealing of gender roles in the 21st century.