The Power of the Consumer: Then and Now

Chapter 6 in "Common Sense and a Little Fire" really struck me as an extremely powerful and poignant. Often times when people think about the women's movement, they think about it in very polarizing terms. They insinuate that there were women out in the streets, protesting and getting things done while the women in the domestic sphere sat idly by. However, the work of Clara Lemlich Shavelson and the Housewives' movement proves this notion wrong.

The Housewives Movement was about working-class women taking action and doing what they could to help other women as well as their husbands. The combined income of both themselves, and their husbands wasn't enough to sustain a family. Poor housewives that did not work outside of the home saw the connection between their husbands working and the products they were buying at local markets and recognized that they did not have purchasing power. They also recognized that they couldn't afford to pay rent as well as buy necessities for their families on these wages. Shavelson, in a sense, became the face of the movement because of her frequent soap-boxing and her insistence on bringing a very private matter into the public. On page 226 of the book, Orleck writes: "the housewives movement promised to empower and to liberate wives and mothers, for when mothers became activists they also became individuals, no longer simply relational beings existing only in reference to husbands and children," which shows that this movement was not only important in creating external change but also affecting the internal struggles for these women. Finding a definition for themselves outside of the home must have been a huge step in creating a new identity for women in any class.

While reading this chapter I began to think a lot about my childhood as well as my adult life and what I was taught about managing money, as well as practices that I use today. In this modern age we are constantly bombarded with ads; whether they are on our social media websites, shop windows, movies and commercials. We are told that there are objects that we need to buy as men or women, adults or children, fat or thing. With the rise of this culture of buying, one might think that people do not value the dollar the same way that women such as Shavelson did. People camp out overnight for at least a couple of days to buy the new iPhone but not many seem as upset (or willing to do anything) about the rise in the cost of food, living expenses, and raising children. It upsets me to see that a lot of the work that these women have done hasn't been taught or perhaps just hasn't been remembered, and the same passion that drove them to seek change seems to be lacking in this society. I also recognize that Americans -for the most part- do not acknowledge their financial struggles outside of the house. We don't talk about how much we make, or how we can/cannot afford to buy certain things. Financial issues are not openly discussed because it comes with a certain amount of shame that perhaps your best wasn't good enough and you can't provide for your family. Instead of bringing to light the shared experiences that can result in change, we cloak them and keep it to ourselves.