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Dissertation Information for Susan Ferenitos

NAME:
- Susan Ferenitos

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- History

SCHOOL:
- Indiana University (USA) (2005)

ADVISORS:
- Wendy Gamber

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Joanne Meyerowitz
- Steven Stowe
- Helen Gremillion

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: An unpredictable age: Sex, consumption, and the emergence of the American teenager, 1900--1950

Abstract: This dissertation examines changing understandings of adolescent sexuality during the first half of the twentieth century. Early in this era, social reformers created an image of adolescence as a precarious life stage, where unchecked sexuality could lead the young into lives of delinquency. Yet, by the late 1940s, a new cultural category---"the teenager"---had eclipsed this earlier understanding. Largely a creation of advertising, this later construction repackaged adolescent sexuality into a less threatening desire to be attractive and used this desire to sell a vast array of products to the newly created teenage market. "An Unpredictable Age" investigates the period of transition between these two notions and seeks to explain the factors leading to the mid-century communion of sexuality and buying power under the stereotype of the teenager. In addition, this work moves beyond the mere study of ideas to consider the actual experiences of adolescents as they deciphered the conflicting messages in play during this era. Adolescent diaries, letters, scrapbooks, and school publications testify to the fact that young people were not simply passive recipients of adult assumptions. Rather, they took an active part in the creation of teen culture. By considering both the dominant voices on sexuality at this time and the ways in which young people used them to forge their own belief systems, this study offers a new perspective on the history of American youth and explores the important role consumer culture played in the construction of sexual norms during the twentieth century.

MPACT Scores for Susan Ferenitos

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2010-09-22 19:13:56

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