Transcript lycra: how a fiber shaped america introduction

LYCRA:
HOW A FIBER
SHAPED
AMERICA
KAORI O’CONNOR
INTRODUCTION
© 2011 Taylor and Francis
• Everyone reading this is sure to be wearing synthetic
fibers, and to have synthetic fibers all around them –
in their homes, their rooms, their cars, in all the
shops they visit.
• Yet although the anthropological literature is full of
accounts of how things are made and circulated in
traditional and developing societies, there is
relatively little on mass-manufactured goods in the
mainstream of our own society, and almost nothing
about how synthetic fibers and fabrics come into
being and enter our lives.
© 2011 Taylor and Francis
Lycra: How a Fiber Shaped America fills this gap by
presenting an anthropological account of one of
the most popular and ubiquitous synthetic fibersthe stretch fiber Lycra.
An example of the Anthropology of Stuff, this book
tells the story of a specific product (Lycra), the
company that invented and produced it (E.I. du
Pont de Nemours and Company, or ‘Dupont’) and
the cohort of consumers the fiber was invented
for – the ‘Babyboomers’, born between 1945 and
1965.
© 2011 Taylor and Francis
Nb Lycra was sold by Dupont to Koch Industries Inc in 2004.
This website gives brief highlights of Lycra: How
a Fiber Shaped America on a chapter by
chapter basis, but you will need to read the
book to put the material presented here in its
proper context. Suggested discussion
questions have been included, along with key
links and recommended reading where
appropriate. The final powerpoint section
aims to get you started in doing your own
work in the Anthropology of Stuff.
©2011 Taylor and Francis