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Podcast: New Books in American Studies
Episode: Elizabeth L. Block, "Beyond Vanity: The History and Power of Hairdressing" (MIT Press, 2024)
Description: In the nineteenth century, the complex cultural meaning of hair was not only significant—it could affect one’s place in society. After the Civil War, hairdressing was a growing profession and the hair industry a mainstay of local, national, and international commerce.In Beyond Vanity: The History and Power of Hairdressing (MIT Press, 2024), Elizabeth L. Block expands the nascent field of hair studies by restoring women’s hair as a cultural site of meaning in the early United States. With a special focus on the places and spaces in which the industry operated, Block argues that the impor...