8/9/2019 Racializing Domesticity

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2015, the 6thof JanuaryStudent: Patricia Constantinescu British Cultural Studies, MA 2Professor: Mihaela Precup Counication in Media

Racializing domesticity

Soap advertising

!urin" the #ictorian era, soap $as attri%uted a sacred ia"e, representin" the ain part ofthe &sanctuary of doestic hy"iene&' #arious soap ads, throu"hout this period, $ereactually an alle"ory for the re"eneration of the %ody politic'

i"'1 ( )n the first frae, $e can see t$o children in a %athroo ( a %lac* %oy $ho isactually ta*in" a %ath, and a $hite %oy standin" ne+t to hi' Both are stereotypicallydepicted, as the %lac* %oy sees pretty unacuainted $ith the entire process, $hile the

$hite child %ends erciful to$ards hi' -he soap itself represents the so.called &%rid"e&that can %e %uilt %et$een the t$o racially opposed sides' -hrou"h the use of these ads, the

iperial pro"ress /$hich used to %e only a fara$ay spectacle coes closer to theconsuer, enterin" the doain of coodity' )n the second frae of this ad, the %lac* %oy%ecoes iraculously $hite, e+cept for his face ( the rational indiiduality and self.consciousness'

i"' 2 ( -his ia"e offers another clear e+aple of the association of doestic acts ando%ects $ith the race.chan"in" process' -he su%tle essa"e of the present adert is, in fact,not only a childish rear*, %ut an actual su""estion that one should do something, inorder to chan"e their situation, state of affairs, race, and so on'

The monkey

Another soap adertisin" capai"n, durin" the 1330s, $as centred on the on*ey /4 itsfryin" pan and all other sorts of doestic eleents' -he Mon*ey Brand Soap $as eantto lin* the use of a particular %rand not only $ith a re"eneration of the race, %ut also $iththe eancipation of $oen, thus su""estin" that they $ould autoatically %e a%soled ofanyfor of hoe la%our throu"h the ere use of that ordinary soap %ar'

i"' ( )n this ad, the on*ey represents the perfect idea of a hy%rid' )t is on thethreshold %et$een un"le and ciiliation, half anial ( half huan, partly "entlean, %utalso a street %e""ar'

-he appearance of on*eys in soap adertisin" represented the perfect solution at thetie' )t $as one of the fe$ $ays /if not the only one to proote the idea of doesticity

$ithout actually sho$in" ia"es of $oen at $or*' -hus, the shift fro the $oen.perforin".paid.$or* situation to that of stay.at.hoe, $as "radually and su%tly ade'

Apes, in particular, $ere eant to send to the racial, cultural, and social differences%et$een particular classes'

Also, there is a contradiction %et$een the asculinied representation of the soap, and thefeinine role the on*ey is playin" ( that of a house$ife'

7ne of the su%liinal essa"es of the soap.on*ey ads $as that of a transforation ofnature /dirt, $aste, and disorder into culture /cleanliness, rationality, and industry'

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8/9/2019 Racializing Domesticity

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2015, the 6thof JanuaryStudent: Patricia Constantinescu British Cultural Studies, MA 2Professor: Mihaela Precup Counication in Media

The mirror

Another leitotif in this series of soap ads is that of the irror.fryin" pan that the on*ey

holds /i"' 8' -his also appears in a Broo*e&s Soap ad, althou"h here $e are dealin" $ith aore cople+ idea' A classical feale ideal, $ith $hite s*in and %are ars, $ears a

aporous dress' 9hile her appearance is that of a "oddess, e%odyin" %eauty, desire, andleisure, fro the cornucopia that she holds, flo$s a horrid rier of ape.an"els /i"' 5' -hesu""estion here, a"ain, is that of an eolution process, fro apeli*e to an"elic'

Domesticating empire

-o$ards the end of the century, an inasion of iperial %ric..%rac ade its $ay to theheart of the #ictorian hoes' -he scenes depicted in arious ads for tea, %iscuits, coconut,and other traditional fetishes, $ere a i+ture of iperial spectacle $ith hoely features';or e+aple, a