This book analyzes the spread of American female consumer culture to Italy and its influence on Italian women in the postwar and Cold War periods, eras marked by the political, economic, social, and cultural battle between the United States and Soviet Union. Focusing on various aspects of this culture-beauty and hygiene products, refrigerators, and department stores, as well as shopping and magazine models-the book examines the reasons for and the methods of American female consumer culture's arrival in Italy, the democratic, consumer capitalist messages its products sought to "sell" to Italian women, and how Italian women themselves reacted to this new cultural presence in their everyday lives. Did Italian women become the American Mrs. Consumer? As such, the book illustrates how the modern, consuming American woman became a significant figure not only in Italy's postwar recovery and transformation, but also in the international and domestic cultural and social contests for the hearts and minds of Italian women.

This book analyzes the spread of American female consumer culture to Italy and its influence on Italian women in the postwar and Cold War periods, eras marked by the political, economic, social, and cultural battle between the United States and Soviet Union. Focusing on various aspects of this culture-beauty and hygiene products, refrigerators, and department stores, as well as shopping and magazine models-the book examines the reasons for and the methods of American female consumer culture's arrival in Italy, the democratic, consumer capitalist messages its products sought to "sell" to Italian women, and how Italian women themselves reacted to this new cultural presence in their everyday lives. Did Italian women become the American Mrs. Consumer? As such, the book illustrates how the modern, consuming American woman became a significant figure not only in Italy's postwar recovery and transformation, but also in the international and domestic cultural and social contests for the hearts and minds of Italian women.

Unable to afford to stay on campus during the semester break, 18-year-old Gia Bryant is forced to return home to her junkie mother and Harlem project building. Less than twenty-four hours after returning, Gia's mother steals the small amount of money she has - leaving her homeless, broke, and desperate to get back to school. Gia's luck begins to change when a club promoter offers her a job in New York City's hottest nightclubs. With the bark and bite of a Pit-bull, the brains of an ivy-league scholar, and the beauty of a hip-hop video vixen, Gia begins to use her full arsenal of assets to get what she wants, unleashing a power she was previously cynical of. In trading her sneakers for stilettos, and days at the library for nights at the clubs, she begins to lose herself in a world of fast cash, rich men, and designer labels. As she becomes wrapped up in unexpected drama, Gia's focus blurs and the walls she's built to conceal her painful upbringing from her promising future begin to collapse. Will Gia's new life as the city's it girl prevent her from returning to school and accomplishing her goals?