The Changing Lives of Women in the ’50s, ’60s and Beyond

The Tannery Series takes on fashion and feminism at PEM.

In the ’50s and early ’60s, the cone-shaped brassieres of Marilyn Monroe were all the rage and most women needed a husband’s permission to open a bank account or get a credit card. By the ’70s, feminists were protesting high-heels and bras, while women were finding their places in universities and courtrooms. Join The Tannery Series for a discussion of fashion, feminism and the way the home-front became a crucible of social change. Be part of the conversation as award-winning novelist Sigrid Nunez and sociologist Ashley Mears explore beauty, power and the changing lives of women in the era of Mad Men. Come hear why “Mid-Century Modern” is about more than great design.

On the program:

Sigrid Nunez(The Last of Her Kind), plunges us into the dark side of the countercultural idealism that swept the country in the 1960s. Exploring a friendship between two college roommates from vastly different backgrounds, her award-winning novel provides a remarkable and disconcerting vision of a troubled time in American history, and of its repercussions for national and individual identity.

Ashley Mears (Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model), takes us behind the brightly lit runways and glossy advertisements of the fashion industry to explore a largely hidden arena of cultural production— how the right “look” is discovered, developed, and packaged to become a prized commodity. Her rich, accessible analysis of the invisible ways in which gender, race, and class have shaped design and fashion reveals how the industry has impacted our sense of beauty, power and femininity across the decades.

This program will celebrate the opening of PEM’s latest exhibit, California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way. Come explore Mad Men and brilliant women.

For more information email: info@tanneryseries.com.