Word: cohenable
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According to Cohen, the message that one should enage in self-indulgence and materialism to help the country was conveyed to a weary post-war public...
Policy makers at the time believed that such consumption would not only spur the economy but create a more egalitarian society as well, Cohen says. But they didn’t realize that as consumption became synonymous with patriotism, divisions along the lines of class, race and gender persisted and were exacerbated in some cases...
With regard to class, Cohen says that suburban sprawl wasn’t the same for everyone, distinguishing between “cop and fireman” suburbs and “upscale” suburbs to counter the false belief that America had one huge, equal middle class...
...Cohen also argues that women were not active participants in the new consumer’s republic. By pointing out that women were denied credit until the mid-1970s, Cohen created a more complicated picture of an era of good but unfulfilled intentions...
...Cohen cites a Life Magazine reporter who wrote about the Myers family, the first black family in a Levittown, Pa. neighborhood, as an example of the resistance to racial integration of consumption. The reporter captured a telling remark from a neighbor: “He’s probably a nice guy, but every time I look at him I see $2,000 drop off the value of my home...