Consuming Beauty: The Impact of Prescriptive Beauty Literature on College Women, 1940-1950

My thesis looks at prescriptive beauty messages generated during 1940-1950 by using a case study of Margaret Morrison Carnegie College. I look at formal prescriptive beauty messages (advertisements, beauty manuals) and informal beauty messages (college yearbooks, newspapers, and beauty queen campaigns) to see what types of messages were created and why. I situate changes in these messages in a timeline of national culture, as it existed before, during, and after World War II. I then compare these messages by looking at which prescriptions were adapted by MMCC women as a group. I argue that these young women adopted an adapted version of the two prescriptions by following the advice given on a national level but also shaping their appearances based on what was occurring on campus. I infer that one set of prescriptions cannot exist in a vacuum; there will be a set of overarching goals to strive for, as well as a set based on standards within her immediate environment. The digital component to this project is available at www.consumingbeauty.com.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Department dc:contributor.department

History

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Zlokas, Rosemary E.

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Jones, Kathleen W.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Cline, David P.
• Mollin, Marian B.
• Winling, LaDale C.

• Beauty Culture
• Consumer Culture
• Education, Higher
• College Women
• Gender
• Campus Culture
• Beauty Queens

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:5662

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/73602