The history of the housewife is a complicated and uneasy narrative, rife with contradictions, tensions, and unanswered questions. In response to this, Sentenced to Everyday Life marks an important cross-generational moment in feminism. Challenging our previous understandings of what constitutes the housewife figure, this book tugs at a critical issue still unresolved in the contemporary world: what is the relationship between women and the home? And why are women so reluctant to call themselves housewives? Drawing on research and evidence surrounding the housewife figure of the 1940s and 1950s, Johnson and Lloyd address the question of why the housewife has been such a problematic figure in feminist debates since World War II. Starting with an exploration of why the housewife of the 1940s became associated with drudgery, this book covers such topics as the ways in which magazines and advertising attempted to articulate an innate connection between women and the domestic sphere, while later films of the 1950s explored the constantly shifting boundaries between social, family and individual desires and constraints for women in the home. Johnson and Lloyd also examine how the home has been a site of boredom, and what happens to the balance between work and family in the modern world. In moving into contemporary debates, the authors explore the uneasy tension between the construction of the modern self and women's efforts to transcend the domestic sphere. By situating their examination in a still unresolved contemporary topic, Johnson and Lloyd offer us both a backward glance and a forward-looking perspective into domesticity and the modern self.

'This book is unsettling, in the most enjoyable way. ''Home'' has long been a scholarly obsession, but where others try to pin down its ''meaning'', this collection revels in its multiplicity. By viewing home-making as practiced and mobile, these essays emphasise the 'interactional achievement' of people, spaces and things. It examines its scale - from man-caves to nations - its spatiality - on public transport as much as in residences - and its temporality - as constant re-creation. This approach flags the contradictory and ambivalent nature of home-making as individual and collective projects of identity. In a world marked by a ''crisis of home'', this collection examines the relation between agency and power as we struggle for coherence and continuity.' Greg Noble, University of Western Sydney, Australia Asking us to think differently about the home, this book challenges the notion of a closed-off and self-sufficient place and reimagines home to be where we find our connections to others and the world. By exploring home in relation to the figure of the stranger and public space, as well as with a focus on practices of dwelling and materialities, the authors demonstrate that thinking differently about home advances our understanding of belonging as a social process in which we are all implicated. Interrelated chapters challenge traditional, convenient and stereotypical notions of 'home'. Specifically, the book provides a state-of-the-art cross-disciplinary conceptual framework; contributes to national and international discussions on the changing economic and social meanings of home; and provides analysis of areas and locations that are rarely thought of as involved in 'home-making', e.g. man caves; mobile homes; the home in public; senses of home; the migrant citizen/stranger. This book is an essential resource for those involved in housing policy, issues around migration policies and to researchers working in other arenas such as cultural heritage. It is of particular interest to academics of sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, and those whose research investigates questions of domestic space and the politics of home. Contributors include: A. Alund, J. Browitt, A. Deslandes, N. Ebert, M. Giuffre, O. Hamilton, E. Honeywill, J. Humphry, L. Kings, J. Lloyd, Y. Musharbash, S. Redshaw, C.-U. Schierup, A. Stebbing, S. Supski, I. Vanni Accarigi, E. Vasta

This book is open access and available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by Knowledge Unlatched. The 20th century was a time of rapid expansion in media industries, as well as of accelerating demands for equality and recognition for women. While women's agency has typically been defined through the domestic sphere, the introduction of media into the home destabilised firm boundaries between public and private spheres. Gender and Media in the Broadcast Age demonstrates how women as media producers and audiences in three countries with public service broadcasters (UK, Canada and Australia) have contributed to changes in our understandings of public and private. Justine Lloyd offers a new way of understanding how tremendous changes in social definitions of gender roles played out in media forms worldwide during this period through the notion of 'intimate geographies'. Women's participation in media continues to be a key challenge to notions of the public sphere and the book concludes that profound changes initiated in the broadcast era are unfinished in the age of digital media. Lloyd therefore provides rich and valuable evidence of the dynamic relationship between media texts, producers and audiences that is relevant to contemporary debates about a growing gender 'apartheid' in a mediated culture.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Ernest, the lovable blue-collar buffoon, was a staple of pop culture in countless commercials, nearly a dozen movies and an award-winning Saturday-morning TV show. Today, millions of fans still mourn the loss of actor Jim Varney, who portrayed Ernest and who died at age 50 in 2000 of cancer. Ernest fans are finally getting the biography they have been waiting for in this comprehensive work by Jim's nephew, Justin Lloyd. "The Importance of Being Ernest: The Life of Actor Jim Varney" traces Jim's journey from a child in Lexington, Kentucky, with dreams of being a stage and film actor to becoming an iconic entertainment figure in the tradition of Charlie Chaplin's "The Little Tramp." The book is based on numerous interviews with family members and intimates of Jim who have never spoken publicly before about what drove the actor and how he overcame many personal and professional obstacles to attain success. But with that success came a price: Jim longed for stage and film roles beyond Ernest, and they were difficult to come by because of his symbiosis with the character. Yet Jim persevered, ultimately winning major movie roles such as Jed Clampett in "The Beverly Hillbillies" and (the voice of) Slinky Dog in the first two "Toy Story" films. The book also explores the genius of the small Nashville advertising agency that created Ernest and how it spread his popularity decades before "going viral" became associated with achieving global stardom. Even at the height of his career, Jim never forgot he was a descendant of Appalachian coal miners, and he remained true to his values, his friends and his family. Jim always strove for authenticity and humanity inside his hillbilly humor, endearing him to fans from every walk of life. "The Importance of Being Ernest: The Life of Actor Jim Varney" documents the life of an unforgettable figure in American comedy whose legacy endures today. "The Importance of Being Ernest: The Life of Actor Jim Varney" contains never-before-seen photos from the Varney family's private collection.

This book is open access and available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by Knowledge Unlatched. The 20th century was a time of rapid expansion in media industries, as well as of accelerating demands for equality and recognition for women. While women’s agency has typically been defined through the domestic sphere, the introduction of media into the home destabilised firm boundaries between public and private spheres. Gender and Media in the Broadcast Age demonstrates how women as media producers and audiences in three countries with public service broadcasters (UK, Canada and Australia) have contributed to changes in our understandings of public and private. Justine Lloyd offers a new way of understanding how tremendous changes in social definitions of gender roles played out in media forms worldwide during this period through the notion of ‘intimate geographies’. Women’s participation in media continues to be a key challenge to notions of the public sphere and the book concludes that profound changes initiated in the broadcast era are unfinished in the age of digital media. Lloyd therefore provides rich and valuable evidence of the dynamic relationship between media texts, producers and audiences that is relevant to contemporary debates about a growing gender ‘apartheid’ in a mediated culture.

The history of the housewife is a complicated and uneasy narrative, rife with contradictions, tensions, and unanswered questions. In response to this, Sentenced to Everyday Life marks an important cross-generational moment in feminism. Challenging our previous understandings of what constitutes the housewife figure, this book tugs at a critical issue still unresolved in the contemporary world: what is the relationship between women and the home? And why are women so reluctant to call themselves housewives? Drawing on research and evidence surrounding the housewife figure of the 1940s and 1950s, Johnson and Lloyd address the question of why the housewife has been such a problematic figure in feminist debates since World War II. Starting with an exploration of why the housewife of the 1940s became associated with drudgery, this book covers such topics as the ways in which magazines and advertising attempted to articulate an innate connection between women and the domestic sphere, while later films of the 1950s explored the constantly shifting boundaries between social, family and individual desires and constraints for women in the home. Johnson and Lloyd also examine how the home has been a site of boredom, and what happens to the balance between work and family in the modern world. In moving into contemporary debates, the authors explore the uneasy tension between the construction of the modern self and women's efforts to transcend the domestic sphere. By situating their examination in a still unresolved contemporary topic, Johnson and Lloyd offer us both a backward glance and a forward-looking perspective into domesticity and the modern self.