Kotex, Kleenex, Huggies
Kotex, Kleenex, Huggies

Author: Thomas Heinrich

Publisher: Ohio State University Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 0814209769

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At the core of Kotex, Kleenex, Huggies is the riveting story of Kimberly-Clark, a Wisconsin paper company that became a pioneer of personal hygiene products in the twentieth century. Its first big commercial success was Kotex, which came from sanitary wound bandages developed in World War I. Similarly, Kleenex evolved from Army gas mask filters into disposable handkerchiefs and became the company's most reliable profit maker. Finally, Huggies turned Kimberly-Clark into a leading player in the highly competitive diaper market of the 1970s and 1980s. In addition to tracing Kimberly-Clark's fascinating history of technology development and product diversification, Heinrich and Batchelor explore momentous changes in consumer behavior and marketing. When Kotex first arrived on the scene in the 1920s, menstrual hygiene was burdened with cultural taboos that made it impossible for many women to ask the (inevitably male) pharmacist for a sanitary napkin. To solve such vexing marketing problems, Kimberly-Clark invented the artificial word Kotex and inserted it into consumer vocabulary through massive advertising campaigns. Making it easier for women to shop for the new product. Kimberly-Clark also recommended that stores place boxes of Kotex on the counter where women could help themselves without embarrassing conversation, thus pioneering the concept of self-service.

Microhistories of Technology
Microhistories of Technology

Author: Mikael Hård

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-02-20

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 3031228138

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In this open access book, Mikael Hård tells a story of how people around the world challenged the production techniques and products brought by globalization. Retaining their autonomy and freedom, creative individuals selectively adopted or rejected modern gadgets, tools, and machines. In standard historical narratives, globalization is portrayed as an unstoppable force that flattens all obstacles in its path. Modern technology is also seen as inexorable: in the nineteenth century, steamships, telegraph lines, and Gatling guns are said to have paved the way for colonialism and other forms of dominating people and societies. Later, shipping containers and computer networks purportedly pulled the planet deeper into a maelstrom of capitalism. Hård discusses instances that push back against these narratives. For example, in Soviet times, inhabitants of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, preferred to remain in—and expand—their own mud-brick houses rather than move into prefabricated, concrete residential buildings. Similarly, nineteenth-century Sumatran carpenters ignored the saws brought to them by missionaries—and chose to chop down trees with their arch-bladed adzes. And people in colonial India successfully competed with capitalist-run Caribbean sugar plantations, continuing to produce their own muscovado and sell it to local consumers. This book invites readers to view the history of technology and material culture through the lens of diversity. Based on research funded by the European Research Council and conducted in the Global South, Microhistories of Technology: Making the World shows that the spread of modern technologies did not erase artisanal production methods and traditional tools.

Under Wraps
Under Wraps

Author: Sharra L. Vostral

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2008-03-25

Total Pages: 203

ISBN-13: 1461634628

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Menstruation provides one of the few shared bodily functions that most women will experience during their lifetimes. Yet, these experiences are anything but common. In the United States, for the better part of the twentieth century, menstruation went hand-in-glove with menstrual hygiene. But how and why did this occur? This book looks at the social history of menstrual hygiene by examining it as a technology. In doing so, the lens of technology provides a way to think about menstrual artifacts, how the artifacts are used, and how women gained the knowledge and skills to use them. As technological users, women developed great savvy in manipulating belts, pins, and pads, and using tampons to effectively mask their entire menstrual period. This masking is a form of passing, though it is not often thought of in that way. By using a technology of passing, a woman might pass temporarily as a non-bleeder, which could help her perform her work duties and not get fired or maintain social engagements like swimming at a summer party and not be marked as having her period. How women use technologies of passing, and the resulting politics of secrecy, are a part of women's history that has remained under wraps.

Menstrual Bodies and Gender
Menstrual Bodies and Gender

Author: Eugenia Tarzibachi

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-06-30

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 9811929963

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This book interrogates how the so-called “Feminine Care” industry travelled from the United States to Latin America via manufactured and disposable menstrual management technologies and certain narratives about menstrual bodies. The author focuses on Argentina as a case study to deepen the analysis of transnational politics and business practices around menstruation, drawing on women’s voices to unveil why menstruation is still a bodily process that is natural yet taboo in Latin America. This fascinating volume is a must-read for anyone interested in how the “Feminine Care” industry helped reify the insidious social mandate of shame and secrecy over women’s bodily experiences.

The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies
The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies

Author: Chris Bobel

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-07-24

Total Pages: 1041

ISBN-13: 9811506140

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This open access handbook, the first of its kind, provides a comprehensive and carefully curated multidisciplinary and genre-spanning view of the state of the field of Critical Menstruation Studies, opening up new directions in research and advocacy. It is animated by the central question: ‘“what new lines of inquiry are possible when we center our attention on menstrual health and politics across the life course?” The chapters—diverse in content, form and perspective—establish Critical Menstruation Studies as a potent lens that reveals, complicates and unpacks inequalities across biological, social, cultural and historical dimensions. This handbook is an unmatched resource for researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and activists new to and already familiar with the field as it rapidly develops and expands.

An Intimate Affair
An Intimate Affair

Author: Jill Fields

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2007-07-02

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 0520252616

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Presents the history of twentieth-century lingerie. This book examines the ways cultural meanings are orchestrated by the 'fashion-industrial complex, ' and the ways in which individuals and groups embrace, reject, or derive meaning from these everyday, yet significant, intimate articles of clothing.

The Man who Sold America
The Man who Sold America

Author: Jeffrey L. Cruikshank

Publisher: Harvard Business Press

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 445

ISBN-13: 1591393086

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Life, who shaped not only an industry but also a century

American Pop [4 volumes]
American Pop [4 volumes]

Author: Bob Batchelor

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2008-12-30

Total Pages: 1703

ISBN-13: 0313364117

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Pop culture is the heart and soul of America, a unifying bridge across time bringing together generations of diverse backgrounds. Whether looking at the bright lights of the Jazz Age in the 1920s, the sexual and the rock-n-roll revolution of the 1960s, or the thriving social networking websites of today, each period in America's cultural history develops its own unique take on the qualities define our lives.American Pop: Popular Culture Decade by Decade is the most comprehensive reference on American popular culture by decade ever assembled, beginning with the 1900s up through today. The four-volume set examines the fascinating trends across decades and eras by shedding light on the experiences of Americans young and old, rich and poor, along with the influences of arts, entertainment, sports, and other cultural forces. Whether a pop culture aficionado or a student new to the topic, American Pop provides readers with an engaging look at American culture broken down into discrete segments, as well as analysis that gives insight into societal movements, trends, fads, and events that propelled the era and the nation. In-depth chapters trace the evolution of pop culture in 11 key categories: Key Events in American Life, Advertising, Architecture, Books, Newspapers, Magazines, and Comics, Entertainment, Fashion, Food, Music, Sports and Leisure Activities, Travel, and Visual Arts. Coverage includes: How Others See Us, Controversies and scandals, Social and cultural movements, Trends and fads, Key icons, and Classroom resources. Designed to meet the high demand for resources that help students study American history and culture by the decade, this one-stop reference provides readers with a broad and interdisciplinary overview of the numerous aspects of popular culture in our country. Thoughtful examination of our rich and often tumultuous popular history, illustrated with hundreds of historical and contemporary photos, makes this the ideal source to turn to for ready reference or research.

We Are What We Sell
We Are What We Sell

Author: Danielle Sarver Coombs

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2014-01-15

Total Pages: 1075

ISBN-13: 0313392455

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For the last 150 years, advertising has created a consumer culture in the United States, shaping every facet of American life—from what we eat and drink to the clothes we wear and the cars we drive. In the United States, advertising has carved out an essential place in American culture, and advertising messages undoubtedly play a significant role in determining how people interpret the world around them. This three-volume set examines the myriad ways that advertising has influenced many aspects of 20th-century American society, such as popular culture, politics, and the economy. Advertising not only played a critical role in selling goods to an eager public, but it also served to establish the now world-renowned consumer culture of our country and fuel the notion of "the American dream." The collection spotlights the most important advertising campaigns, brands, and companies in American history, from the late 1800s to modern day. Each fact-driven essay provides insight and in-depth analysis that general readers will find fascinating as well as historical details and contextual nuance students and researchers will greatly appreciate. These volumes demonstrate why advertising is absolutely necessary, not only for companies behind the messaging, but also in defining what it means to be an American.

The Agility Advantage
The Agility Advantage

Author: Amanda Setili

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2014-09-22

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 1118836383

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How to win market leadership in a fast-changing world In the past, companies could pick a strategy and stick with it, maintaining a competitive edge for years. But today, companies surge ahead, fall behind, or even disappear in mere months. If you and your company are going to thrive for the long run, you need to continuously evolve, change, and stay a step ahead of your competition. The ability to see and capitalize on new opportunities is the cornerstone of agility. Successful technology-based firms like Google, Tesla, and Amazon have all mastered agility within their core business practices, but companies in any sector can—and must—learn to spot new opportunities and make the right choices about what to invest in, what to change, and what to abandon. The Agility Advantage first shows how to identify those aspects of your business where agility is most crucial—where the business environment is changing fast—and which elements have the greatest impact on the customer’s decision to buy. Amanda Setili then shows how to master the three components of agility: Market agility: Gain ideas from your most demanding and forward-thinking customers and from outside your industry. Engage, observe, and mix with customers to identify the opportunities created by their changing demands. Decision agility: Anticipate the changes that may affect you and turn even troubling trends into opportunities. Design your strategy to maximize learning and to manage risk. Generate diverse alternatives and make fast, fact-based decisions about which to pursue. Execution agility: Build new capabilities, shed what doesn’t fit, and take the first steps in a new direction. Experiment, then reinforce and build on what works. Enlist and inspire your organization around a compelling purpose and grant employees the autonomy and resources to continuously adapt and adjust course. The future will present more opportunities but narrower windows to capture them. With a wealth of valuable information and practical strategies, The Agility Advantage is essential reading to help any organization adapt and thrive—both today and tomorrow.