Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on gendered everyday practices involving disposable products. In the decades following the World War II, disposables were expected to free women from household chores. The carefree practices of disposal increased the practicality of these products.

Paper long abstract:

This paper focuses on disposable and short lifespan products as part of gendered everyday practices in Finland in the decades following the World War II. The new material objects reflected the new ideals: In the late 1960s, when private consumers adopted disposables such as paper and plastic tableware, and (later discontinued) non-woven sheets, disposables were expected to free women from arduous household chores. The hostess of a party was free to entertain, or a mother to relax at the summer cottage. Consumers were advised to pack used items into plastic bags and dig into the ‘compost’ or burn in the fireplace, but not to throw them into the sea, as they floated and did not disappear. Disposing created the products’ practicality - in the immediate post-Second World War scarcity a tablecloth made of paper was just a bad-quality substitute to fabric, as it had to last. The carefree practices of disposal in the latter half of the 20th Century increased the practicality, and reconciliated eventual discrepancies between single-use and the materials such as plastic. Some of the disposables’ invisibility was further enhanced by stigma. The idea that menstruation was shameful and needed to be successfully hidden increased demand for flushable pads.

I utilize social practice theory, that addresses practices as a combination of cultural meanings and norms, material and technological aspects, and users’ competences. The research is based on a variety of sources: industry archives, statistics, advertising, and magazine articles on the products and their use.