Kaitlyn Utley, "American History since 1877," April 9, 2024. Benson, Susan. A. Porter. Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. University of Illinois Press, 1986. The literary novel Counter Cultures was written by Susan Porter Benson in the year 1986. Leading up to her writings Susan Benson had a background in economic history and business, teaching at the University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Connecticut, and Yale University. Throughout the novel, she goes on to describe saleswomen, managers, and customers in American department stores. Ultimately influencing both consumption and the economic shift that took place in 1890-1940. Susan Benson Aimed to both highlight and exemplify the gender class and new culture through the …show more content…
This same ideal business practice was mentioned throughout the textbook. “Women had few career choices in business, however, advertisement welcomed them”(Graves,10). In the textbook the unfair gender privileges and opportunities were highlighted in accordance with, Susan P. Benson’s novel, the same ideal is not only highlighted but also exemplified. Benson touches on the way the young boys and girls during the 1900s were being raised and the types of propaganda that were being placed in the minds of especially the young girls. “Our girls. could have been directed at women in any occupation.yet articles lectured.on the necessity of learning to cook”(Benson, 25). Benson made it a point to foil how the young girls were raised compared to the young boys. Beson’s example of the types of articles young girls were reading compared to the types of articles that were placed in front of the young boys, further proves the ideologies that were placed in their young minds, ultimately grooming them to have the same gender roles and social classes as the generations that came before them. There are little to no discrepancies between the book and the