Tupperware Parties x Cruel Optimism

Material Girls

Rehak Hannah

Vanessa Zoltan, Arts, Harry Potter, Books, Aubrey Gordon, Hannah Mcgregor, Pop Culture, Cultural Cricism, Society & Culture, Feminism, Witch Please, Marcelle Kosman, Tv & Film, Fantasy, Not Sorry

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 9 July 2024

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever been to a Tupperware party? Or perhaps a Pure Romance party? Avon? Then you may be familiar with pyramid schemes! In this episode, Marcelle guides Hannah through the history of Tupperware parties and their rising popularity post WWII. She then offers some Lauren Berlant theory (which always makes for a good episode!!); specifically, their concept of "cruel optimism." If that sounds familiar, it's because we first visited this theory in our Queer Eye episode. Enjoy the episode and become a Patreon supporter today to attend our LIVE episode recording on July 12th at 5 pm EST!

You can learn more about Material Girls at ohwitchplease.ca and on our instagram at instagram.com/ohwitchplease! Want more from us? Check out our website ohwitchplease.ca. We'll be back next week with a bonus episode, but until then, we mean it — go check out all the other content we have on our Patreon at Patreon.com/ohwitchplease! Patreon is HOW WE PAY OUR TEAM! We need your support to make the show. Thanks again to all of you who have already made the leap to join us on Patreon.

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Material Girls is a show that aims to make sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.

*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is really interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi listeners. Before today's episode I wanted to let you know that we are coming up on one year of material girls.
0:13.0	Can you believe it? I can't. I don't believe in time.
0:17.0	We can barely contain our excitement and gratitude that you will all helped us move from our previous show, which please, to our new flagship
0:26.1	podcast all about the zeitgeist.
0:29.4	To celebrate all our paying Patreon supporters are invited to a live recording of the podcast on July 12th at 2 p.m.
0:39.3	Pacific Time, 3 p.m. Mountain Time, 4 PM,
0:45.0	5 PM Eastern time, 6 PM, Atlantic Times,
0:50.0	6,000 in Newfoundland.
0:52.0	Anyway, you get the point. If you want to join us head to
0:55.9	Patreon.com slash a witch please and join at any paid tier that works for your
1:01.1	budget. It's going to be an absolute ball, pun intended, because we're going to talk about the new season of Bridgerton, but we'll also be taking your listener questions live about literally any topic you want to ask us about.
1:17.4	It's going to be a free-for-all.
1:20.0	Again, that's Patreon.com slash Oh, which please sign up before July 12th,
1:26.8	so you won't miss this thrilling live recording. I need a new mind I need a
1:53.8	a new brain I want to take a ride on a mini train you can have it all
1:59.5	at the show me.
2:15.6	Hello and welcome to material girls, a pop culture podcast that uses critical theory to understand the zeitgeist. I'm Hannah McGregor and I'm Marcel Kausman. This week we're talking about Tupperware and the infamous Tupperware parties and these are among the most well-known examples of
2:25.3	what's called direct selling but more specifically multi-level marketing schemes.
2:31.3	Oh heck yeah we're talking about pyramid schemes. Oh yeah so
2:35.1	naturally this has me wondering Hannah what kinds of direct selling narrowly
2:41.7	avoided pyramid schemes have you narrowly avoided.
2:45.0	I have only been to two genres.
	...

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