Eating for victory
Subtitle: food rationing and the politics of domesticity
By: Amy Bentley.
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Urbana
Language: eng
Number of pages: 238
Subjects: World War, 1939-1945 -- Women -- United States; Women -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Homemakers -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Rationing -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Description: Mandatory food rationing during World War II significantly challenged the image of the United States as a land of plenty and collapsed the boundaries between women's public and private lives by declaring home production and consumption to be political activities. Examining the food-related propaganda surrounding rationing, Eating For Victory decodes the dual message purveyed by the government and the media: while mandatory rationing was necessary to provide food for U.S. and Allied troops overseas, women on the home front were also "required" to provide their families with nutritious food. Amy Bentley reveals the role of the wartime homemaker as a pivotal component not only of World War II but also of the development of the United States into a superpower.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [219]-234) and index.