Roughing it in the suburbs

the long version

"Chatelaine, originally launched in 1928, had, by the fifties and sixties, nearly two million readers each month for its eclectic mix of traditional and surprisingly unconventional articles and editorials. At a time when the American women's magazine market began to flounder thanks to the advent of television, Chatelaine's subscriptions expanded, as did the lively debate between its covers." "Valerie Korinek shows that the magazine, though filled with advertisements that promoted household perfection through the endless expansion of consumer spending, contained fiction, feature articles, letters, and editorials that subversively complicated the simple recipes for affluent domesticity. Articles on abortion, spousal abuse, and poverty proliferated alongside explicitly feminist editorials. It was a potent mixture, and the mail poured in - both praising and criticizing the new directions at the magazine."--Jacket.