Media Representations of Retail Work in America

Brittany R. Clark

doi:10.5771/9781666906394

Summary

The retail trade has undergone tremendous changes over the course of the twentieth century in the United States, and media narratives have reflected these changes. Media Representations of Retail Work in America explores representations of retail workers in popular media. Offering close readings of various texts including films, television shows, advertisements, and internet memes, Brittany R. Clark traces the development of the trade as a career opportunity that required a distinct set of skills in the early twentieth century until today, when the job has been deskilled and retail workers struggle with low pay and lack of benefits.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2022
ISBN-Print: 978-1-6669-0638-7
ISBN-Online: 978-1-6669-0639-4
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 142
Product type: Book Titles

1. Contents No access
2. List of Figures No access
3. Acknowledgments No access
1. Notes No access
1. Americanizing the Department Store No access
2. Conspicuous Consumption No access
3. Early Department Store Employees No access
4. 1. Selfridges Department Store No access
5. Evoking the Empire No access
6. Consumers as a Part of the British Empire No access
7. Conclusion No access
8. Notes No access
1. Criteria for Choosing Films No access
2. Indication of Class Status in Early Films No access
3. Cross-Class Romances No access
4. Cinderella and the Palace of Consumption No access
5. Conclusion No access
6. Notes No access
1. Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and the Passing Narrative No access
2. Mid-century Department Stores and Jim Crow No access
3. Conclusion No access
4. Notes No access
1. Rise and Fall of the “Culturally Relevant” TV Show No access
2. Little House—From Books to TV No access
3. A Close Reading of the Television Series Little House on the Prairie No access
4. Conclusion No access
5. Notes No access
1. The Evolution of Consumption as an Indicator of Changing Narratives No access
2. Indication of Class Status and Stunted Growth No access
3. Conclusion No access
4. Notes No access
1. Nickel and Dimed and Malled No access
2. Class Tourism No access
3. Othering No access
4. Conclusion No access
5. Notes No access
1. Superstore No access
2. History of the Working-Class Sitcom No access
3. How Is Superstore a Working-Class Sitcom? No access
4. Superstore Unionizes (Twice) No access
5. Conclusion No access
6. Notes No access
1. The Retail Workplace as a Community No access
2. Sites of Online Narratives: The Retail Robin and #Retailproblems No access
3. How Do These Narratives Function, and How Are They Understood? No access
4. How Are These Narratives Produced and Understood? No access
5. How Do These Narratives Spread? No access
6. Conclusion No access
7. Notes No access
1. Notes No access
Bibliography No access Pages 131 - 138
Index No access Pages 139 - 140
About the Author No access Pages 141 - 142