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Potions, lotions and lipstick: The gendered consumption of cosmetics and perfumery in socialist and post-socialist urban

Kristen Ghodsee

Gender and Women's Studies, Bowdoin College, 7100 College Station, Brunswick, ME 04011, USA School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, One Einstein Drive, Princeton NJ 08540, New Jersey, USA Available online 18 January 2007

Synopsis

This article examines the recent history of the consumption of perfumery and cosmetics in urban Bulgaria during the communist and post-communist periods. While the consumption of perfumes, facial creams and other cosmetics was heavily gendered during both eras, the production, distribution and marketing of these goods changed significantly after 1989. This article explores the factors influencing why post-socialist Bulgarian consumers have shown a preference for spending on products like shampoo, make-up, perfume and hair dye rather than on almost any other type of goods, and how these preferences intersect with shifting ideals of femininity and consumerism. Rather than merely giving women greater access to and a wider variety of products to choose from, however the post-1989 proliferation of cosmetics and the advertising used to promote them may have created new and almost impossible beauty standards that many women now feel they must strive to live up to if they want to succeed in the capitalist economy. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

“What do we care about the manipulation inherent readily available cosmetics and perfumes was met with a in the fashion and cosmetic industries? To tell us rush of imports from the West. This coincided with they are making a profit by exploiting our needs is dramatic decreases in income and increases in advertising like warning a Bangladeshi about cholesterol” specifically targeted at women and girls struggling to (Drakulic, 1991, p. 28) survive the political and economic demise of their socialist world, and trying to make sense of changing This article examines the recent history of the con- gender identities in newly hypercommodified societies. sumption of perfumery and cosmetics in urban Bulgaria The establishment of free markets in Bulgaria also during the communist and post-communist periods. overlapped with banking collapses, hyperinflation, food While the consumption of perfumes, facial creams and rationing and high unemployment (Ghodsee, 2005). other cosmetics was heavily gendered during both eras, In 1996, when the Bulgarian economy finally imploded, the production, distribution and marketing of these goods the average annual per capita income was $560, meaning changed significantly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in that most Bulgarians had to live on about $1.50 a day 1989, thus alteringAuthor's consumption patterns. Under bothpersonal(National Statistical Institute copy [NSI], 1999,p.92).Atthat systems, women were/are the primary consumers of such time, a loaf of bread in a city cost about the equivalent of goods, but their relationship to cosmetics has changed in fifteen cents and most Bulgarian had relatives in the rural the wake of the creation of labor markets and democratic areas who maintained household plots for fruits, vege- societies. A suppressed desire for higher quality and more tables, and dairy products. Despite the low cost of food,

0277-5395/$ - see front matter © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2006.12.003 K. Ghodsee / Women's Studies International Forum 30 (2007) 26–39 27 expenditures on foods and non-alcoholic beverages was dramatic shifts in what Michael Storper (2001) has 63.3% of total consumer expenditure in 1997, followed by called “producerist” and “consumerist” identities. Prior another 10.2% spent on housing, electricity, water and to 1989, most Bulgarians had strong producerist iden- fuels (NSI, 2005:51). Most consumer goods (such as tities; individual subjectivity was primarily determined televisions or household appliances) were sold more or by one's relationship to work (the process of produc- less at international market prices and were beyond the tion). Storper argues that as societies become more reach of most Bulgarians. In spite of this, it is interesting entrenched in the global economy, higher unemploy- that spending on cosmetics and perfumes saw significant ment rates and lower wages are compensated with growth throughout the 1990s. Between 1997 and 2002, “consumer surpluses” as the cost of goods decreases retail sales for these products grew by more than 130%, a because of the availability of cheaper and cheaper very large percent increase compared to spending on other imports. Workers' rights are slowly replaced by con- categories of goods, such as clothing and footwear, sumer rights. This, however, is not a crude binary, but automobiles, or consumer electronics (NSI, 1999:243, rather a spectrum of potential identities. As consumption 2001:335, 2004:364). This article examines some of the practices supersede employment as the primary shaper factors influencing why post-socialist urban Bulgarian of individual subjectivity, men and women slide away consumers have shown a preference for spending on from the producerist identity pole of the spectrum and products like shampoo, make-up, perfume and hair dye further toward the consumerist pole. In Bulgaria, my rather than on almost any other type of goods, and how case study explores how the sliding between these two these preferences intersect with shifting ideals of femi- poles has been uneven. The existence of “consumer ninity and consumerism. surpluses” and “consumer deficits” for different catego- I am concentrating on urban Bulgaria because al- ries of goods and services after 1989 has pushed women though the statistics are not disaggregated, analysis of more toward the consumerist pole of identity than men. household budget data in the 2001 census (NSI, 2005) Furthermore, Bulgarian women's growing consum- suggests that the bulk of discretionary spending (in- erist identities have made them more vulnerable to what cluding that on cosmetics) in Bulgaria occurs primarily Juliet Schor (1999) has called the “aspiration gap” in the in urban areas. I am also focusing on this narrow cat- United States, whereby individual consumers have an egory, which the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute inflated sense of the material things that are required to calls “perfumery and cosmetics,” because the process of have a “normal” life. Schor explains that in global cap- expanding consumer markets for these products after italist societies, people who once compared their own 1989 was intimately bound with the changing gender economic success to that of their immediate friends and roles that intensified after the onset of capitalism. In neighbors now measure themselves against economic particular, I will show how certain communist ideals of elites, celebrities and “television friends” whose luxu- revolutionary femininity were employed to justify rious lifestyles they believe they must emulate in order the paltry production and erratic distribution of beauty to be considered “successful.” In addition, advertising products before 1989, particularly those imported from continuously expands the list of “necessary” goods, and the West. Although demand for these goods was high, constant product innovations trick consumers into an the state propaganda machine actively tried to dissuade endless cycle of buying new versions of things they women from the idea that beauty and fashion were already own in order to keep up with the latest tech- relevant to their identities. In the economic chaos of the nological advances. As income polarization increases post-socialist era, however, new gender roles and beauty and the rich get richer, the average middle class family is standards for women made perfumery and cosmetics even less likely to afford the lifestyle of the economic more central to many urban women's lives as they began elite, and the aspiration gap grows. actively competing in the newly created labor market for The transition from communism to capitalism un- jobs in the private sector. However, rather than merely leashed many of the same forces in Bulgaria that are giving women more products to choose from, the post- responsible for the growing aspiration gap in the U.S.: 1989 proliferation ofAuthor's cosmetics and the advertising used personalthe introduction after 1989copy of new forms of private to promote them may have created new and almost media, aggressive advertising, a fascination with celeb- impossible beauty standards that many women now feel rities, increasing income polarization and the creation of they must strive to live up to if they want to succeed in new economic elites in society. Although there are many the capitalist economy. differences between the U.S. and Bulgarian cases, the The emerging capitalist redefinition of gender roles idea of people spending money beyond their means to and the changing structure of the economy precipitated keep up with an idealized lifestyle accurately describes 28 K. Ghodsee / Women's Studies International Forum 30 (2007) 26–39 one important factor motivating the consumption of would then control in the name of the people who were perfume and cosmetics in Bulgaria. In a country where in return guaranteed an equal share of the redistributed conspicuous consumption was once severely restricted product (Verdery, 1996). Overall, the Bulgarian state and official discourses of femininity disparaged vanity was quite successful in its development. The country and tried to eradicate bourgeois beauty standards, the once produced many manufactured goods including expansion of markets for Western toiletries capitalized computers, tanks, armaments, forklifts, refrigerators, on urban Bulgarian women's strong rejection of the and buses. The focus on heavy industry, however, drew scarcity of the communist past, and has gendered the scarce resources away from the production of consumer aspiration gap in fascinating ways, although not goods (Vienna Institute for Comparative Economics necessarily in a way that materially benefits women. [VICES], 1990). Research for this article was conducted over a The anthropologist Katherine Verdery (1996:2b) has cumulative of two and a half years of fieldwork in argued that all command economies faced an inherent Bulgaria in 1999–2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and contradiction “…between what was necessary to legit- 2006. During my many visits to the country, I spent time imate them — redistributing things to the masses — and in hair salons and other “houses of beauty” talking to what was necessary to their power — accumulating women about changing feminine ideals and the old and things to the center.” Communist states increased their new products they used in the pre- and post-1989 eras. power by keeping tight control over the means of In the summer of 2005 and spring of 2006, I also production. Producing consumer goods like cosmetics shadowed an Oriflame1 distributor for 6 weeks and that were essentially given away to the end user did not attended a function with 300 Oriflame distributors in increase the state's power. Verdery argues that although Southern Bulgaria. During that time, I spoke to women communist citizens took pride in the industrial devel- of all generations and ethnicities (Bulgarian, Turkish, opment of their countries, the satisfaction of personal Roma) about the changing market for these goods in consumer needs was still very important. Thus, the state Bulgaria. This article is therefore a mixture of ethno- tried to impose producerist identities from above while graphy and oral history with my data emerging from the many urban Bulgarians longed for a more consumerist experiences of women's lives collected over 6 years. identity. Since the communist state legitimated its control Socialism over the economy by claiming to satisfy the needs of all Bulgarians, it was required to produce at least some Bulgaria became a communist country after World consumer goods to redistribute to the people, but these War II, and had an orthodox command economy in were seldom enough; there were constant shortages of which almost everything was centrally planned by the consumer goods and most of the women I interviewed communist government (Lampe, 1986). Unlike Hun- remember hoarding many basic items including soaps, gary or Poland which allowed informal or secondary fabrics, glass jars, etc. Most women also recall that economies to exist alongside the state-controlled pri- communist goods were poor in quality with no variety. mary economy, private trade was heavily penalized in Instead of increasing the quantity or quality of goods, Bulgaria. Although black markets existed, the risks the Bulgarian state actively sought to redefine what associated with illegal trading drove prices up and “needs” were. Women admitted (almost nostalgically) rendered most goods unaffordable to the majority. that the communists were very good at providing the Among these goods were cosmetics and perfumes. very basic needs of food, shelter, heat, work, and Thus, their availability before 1989 was primarily de- clothing. But any desire for things beyond these needs cided by a handful of central planners without the input was considered having “bourgeois tastes.” Whereas of consumers through the market mechanisms of supply capitalist advertising strives to create needs for and demand. new consumer goods, socialist propaganda tried to Marxist–Leninism ideologies compelled most com- reduce the number of goods that people thought they munist states to placeAuthor's an emphasis on the development personal“needed.” copy of heavy industry. Public ownership of the means of the All products produced under a command economy production was the core of communism, but poor agri- were produced through a quota system whereby a group cultural societies like Bulgaria had very little industrial of central planners (usually men) employed complex development before World War II. Therefore, the com- statistical models to estimate the demand for certain munist state focused its efforts on building new indus- goods (Hessler, 2004; Verdery, 1996). For those who tries, on creating the means of production that the state have had no experience of a command economy, it K. Ghodsee / Women's Studies International Forum 30 (2007) 26–39 29 might be helpful to give an example of how central women. Thus, a woman's concern with personal beauty planning worked in practice.2 If, for instance, the or fashion reflected a bourgeois consciousness wherein government decided that Bulgaria should produce women believed they had to make themselves attractive perfume, a planning committee of economists and en- in order to better sell themselves to potential husbands. terprise and cooperative directors would be convened to Communism in Bulgaria and other Eastern European discuss the production quota for domestic perfume. countries saw the full incorporation of women into the They would decide the type of perfume to make (usually labor force as a way of making them independent of rose) and the type of packaging that would be required men, and communist countries had some of the highest (usually the cheapest and most utilitarian packaging that female labor force participation rates in the world, thus could be produced domestically). Once the scent and the officially promoting a producerist identity for women packaging were decided upon, the planners would have (Gal & Kligman, 2000). Women were also encouraged to determine how many units of perfume to produce. to study traditionally male trades. Many a communist First, they would start with the total population of propaganda poster showed women driving tractors or Bulgarian women and assume that half of them still had marching off to work in factories. The communists bottles of perfume left over from last year's quota. They believed that, as the full equals of men in society, would also calculate what was available for socialist women would not need to concern themselves with such brother countries. Then they might subtract the trivialities as being beautiful or attractive. percentage of all women over the age of 65 and under But communist women did not give up their ideals of the age of 18. In the end, the planning committee would femininity so easily. In Bulgaria, as in other East Euro- propose to produce 57,000 bottles of rose oil perfume pean countries (Gray, 1989; Roman, 2003) women often for the given year. “dressed up” as a way to escape the drabness of com- Once the number of 57,000 was derived, the planning munism. Verdery (1996) has also argued that in societies committee would coordinate with the rose growing where there was little to consume, consumption itself cooperatives, the rose oil distillers, and the glass manu- became a political act, a way to demonstrate resistance facturers to secure all of the necessary inputs. The rose to the regime's control over the intimate details of oil distiller would claim that it did not produce enough everyday life. In a society where the state actively tried attar to meet its export obligations to the West and the to homogenize the sexes, women could resist the state maximum they could supply would be for 40,000 bot- by continuing to emphasize their femininity. More re- tles. The glass manufacturers would have many other cently, the evolutionary biologist, Nancy Etcoff (2000), obligations to the heavy industrial enterprises and could has argued that the desire for beauty is not the result of only spare enough time of its machines to make 35,000 societal conditioning, but a biologically-based set of bottles. These bottles would have to be half the size of preferences hardwired into human beings. Whatever the the original plan in order to avoid a timely recalibration reasons, all of the women I interviewed told me that of the machinery. The final figure, well below the initial beauty was still important before 1989, no matter what “estimate,” would be sent to the appropriate authorities aesthetic the communist state tried to promote through for approval. its official women's magazine, Zhenata Dnes. Violeta,3 At the other end of this long process was the a woman in her late-forties from Smolyan explained, Bulgarian woman. The emancipation of women and the “All women want to be beautiful, and we all believed full equality of the sexes was one of the core tenants of that women in the West were more beautiful than we communist ideology. Friedrich Engels (1972) had were because they had better products and more time argued that the cause of women's oppression did not than we did.” stem from the dominance that men held over them, but Although my informants admitted to having wanted instead from the institution of private property. Women the Western cosmetics and perfumes available in the were not equal because capitalism encouraged a stores, most of them were forced to make model wherein they were economically dependent do with whatever the communist planning committees on men's wages. OtherAuthor's early socialist champions ofpersonaldecided to provide. There copy were several domestic brands women's emancipation such as August Bebel (1904) of cosmetics produced by the state, but there was never and Alexandra Kollontai (1997) mercilessly disparaged any guarantee that women would be able to get what the commodification of women. Prostitution and they wanted. Although the lack of variety was trou- bourgeois monogamous marriage were seen as capitalist blesome, most women conceded that communist cos- institutions that perpetuated sexual inequality by allow- metics had good ingredients. The major brands of ing men to either temporarily or permanently purchase Bulgarian-made cosmetics and perfumes under 30 K. Ghodsee / Women's Studies International Forum 30 (2007) 26–39 communism were Alen Mak, Aroma, and Bulgarska and were runny. My mom would usually make me Rosa. The women I interviewed remembered these put on some of these creams after going to the beach. products with great detail. Iolanta, a woman from Sofia They were all very runny, but worked like a charm. in her mid-fifties explained: Other women remember creams like Mladost There were two main cosmetics companies in (Youth), Neven (Marigold) and “Cucumber Cream of Bulgaria: Aroma located in Sofia and Alen Mak Aroma.” Norka (Mink) was apparently a cream im- located in Plovdiv. Sometimes their products had ported from Russia, Florena came from Hungary, and names like ‘Lemon’ or ‘Hydratant’, sometimes it was there was a Polish version of Nivea. just ‘Facial crème of Aroma’ or ‘Hand cream of Alen perfumes that the women I interviewed remembered Mak’ or just ‘Foot cream.’ It was the same with hair were Russian duhi (perfumes) imported into Bulgaria dye, facial lotion etc. There was a limited choice of through barter agreements with the Soviet Union and Bulgarian items as the main producers were only two. other socialist countries. A popular Bulgarian perfume There was not as big a choice of French perfumes and was called Chat Noire, and Bich Mozhe and Rococo cosmetics as nowadays — Christian Dior, Nina Ricci, perfumes were imported from Poland. Ivana, a former Lancôme — and some English and Italian, but there party functionary in her early-sixties seemed to re- was a constant supply at the main shops. I remember member the contents and origins of her pre-1989 in my childhood, my usual present for my mother's cosmetic bag clearly, “The good liquid make up was name day was a Christian Dior perfume. mostly imported from Eastern Germany. My powder Bulgaria was unique among the Eastern Bloc compacts were Eastern German or Russian. The countries in that the government had some standing lipsticks were made by Alen Mak or Aroma in Bulgaria barter arrangements with France for perfumes and cos- and were numbered rather than named. My perfume was metics, so while there was a very limited supply of these always French, although I only used it on very special goods and they were usually only available in the big occasions.” cities, they could be found through official channels Although cosmetics made in Bulgaria were very (i.e., not only on a black market) if you knew where to cheap compared those imported from the West, the look for them. In fact, knowing where to find cosmetics many women I interviewed were unanimous in agreeing was one way of combating the lack of variety. Most that the quality and packaging were inadequate. A women agreed that the Mecca for cosmetics and hairdresser in Sofia recalled, “First, the ingredients often perfumery in communist Bulgaria was TZUM, the cen- separated in the jar, so you always had to mix them up. tral department store in Sofia that carried the widest Then, lids might not close properly, so if you were not variety of goods and many products imported from the careful the cream would dry out.” A young professional West through the aforementioned barter agreements. woman in her early-thirties, Anelia, also explained one Others told me of a large store called Valentina not far of the major drawbacks of Bulgarian perfumes: “The from TZUM in downtown Sofia. Both Alen Mak and scent always changed very rapidly once it was sprayed Aroma had small shops around the country, and all of on the body, and became an unpleasant one.” Indeed, my the bigger stores like 1001 Stoki (1001 goods) or chain informants agreed that the most damning characteristic stores like Narmag had cosmetics counters. As in other of almost all Bulgarian perfumes and cosmetics was East European countries, there were also the hard their distinctive scent. When I asked why Bulgarian currency stores (called CORECOM in Bulgaria) that women did not like Bulgarian products, the answer was were only open to foreign diplomats and tourists and almost always the same: “They all smelled like rosovo those high enough up in the communist hierarchy to maslo (rose oil)!” When I asked Anelia what made have access to hard currency. Bulgarian products inferior to Western ones — quality, One could also get creams custom made by der- packaging or scent — she replied, “All of these but matologists. One younger woman recalled: mainly scent first. The scent of Bulgarian ones was Author's personalusually the type nowadays copy we would qualify as a scent Cosmetic salons were very clean and cheap, op- for elderly women.” Despite its exclusivity in the West, erated by dermatologists, and the doctors made and urban Bulgarian women were desperate to avoid it so as sold their own ‘medicated’ creams. They were all not to smell like their grandmothers. This tell-tale rose organic and designed for your skin. I remember scent also let everyone around you know that you were those well. They usually came in a non-descript using Bulgarian products, and it was the very “recog- plastic jar, all were scented with rose or lavender oil nizability” of Bulgarian creams and perfumes that made K. Ghodsee / Women's Studies International Forum 30 (2007) 26–39 31 women long to distinguish themselves from each other citizens in Bulgaria were shielded from the normal by using the expensive Western brands. mediums of brand indoctrination — privately owned print In urban Bulgaria, most women I spoke with recalled media or television. Western advertisers had few ways of that the ability to buy and use Western cosmetics and reaching behind the Iron Curtain to convince people that perfumes during communism was one of the most one kind of perfume was better or more fashionable than important markers of social status for both women and another. The television, the newspapers, the magazines, men. The women I interviewed who had been higher up in the radio and even the foreign films that were allowed into the communist hierarchy were connoisseurs of Western Bulgaria were controlled by the state. They all presented perfume scents. They judged people based on the way one unified message about the superiority of the socialist they smelled. It was not only that Western brands of system, and the benefits of living in a supposedly classless cosmetics and perfumes were more expensive, but also society. Toothpaste had no role in building the bright that they were harder to acquire. As mentioned earlier, communist future. Of course, there were many ways in there were always some Western brands available in the which alternative Western media did find its way into the stores that could be bought in leva (the Bulgarian communist world. In Romania, Denise Roman (2003) currency), but the most exclusive and fashionable brands recalls that many Western videos were smuggled into the had to be purchased abroad, bought for hard currency in country by the nomenclatura 4 throughout the 1980s. The the CORECOM shops, or illegally acquired for an enor- same was true in Bulgaria and many of my interviewees mous sum on the black market. Since only the highest also remembered listening to Radio Free Europe or classes (in communist terms) of Bulgarians were allowed having seen Western fashion magazines. But in general, to travel abroad to capitalist countries, the majority of the media were free from commercial advertising, and Bulgarians could only procure something from the West if there was little to encourage the development of they had a relative or close friend who was an airline consumerist identities. stewardess or foreign trade representative. It was also Ironically, it was the lifestyle of the communist elites difficult for ordinary Bulgarians to get a hold of hard that set the standard and the consumer privileges of this currency to shop in the CORECOM stores. Only high- red bourgeoisie that urban Bulgarians aspired to emulate. level bureaucratic functionaries had access to these well- These elites certainly did have more privileges than most stocked “diplomatic stores” which carried a wide variety Bulgarians, but it should not be forgotten that communist of Western goods including alcohol, cigarettes, clothing dogma severely restricted the extent of economic and perfumes and cosmetics. The CORECOMs were inequality. For instance, even a former Deputy Minister ostensibly set up for the Western tourists or diplomats of Transportation explained to me that he was only living in Bulgaria, but the so-called “red bourgeoisie” also allowed to have a certain number of rooms in his house, benefited from their presence because they had the determined by how large his family was with one extra connections and hard currency necessary to shop there. room allowed for his “office” because of his position. The The consumption of the communist elite fueled the import of luxury cars was controlled, and Western consumer desires of Bulgarians, particularly during consumer goods were hard to find for everyone. Even if the 1980s when Bulgaria's command economy began the goods were available in the CORECOM stores, to stagnate. The constant frustrations of not having hoarding too many accoutrements of the bourgeoisie consumer goods created a desire for the plenty available in mightmakeyourfellowcomradessuspiciousofyour the West. But the influence of the West should not be belief in the superiority of scientific communism. overestimated before 1989. Although the goods were Furthermore, privilege was largely demonstrated through coming from the capitalist countries, what was considered which resources you had access to (where you holidayed, fashionable was very much determined locally. For where you went to university, where you lived, etc) rather instance, as in other East European countries, many than through consumption of major goods. Smaller items Bulgarian women remembered that Kent Cigarettes like perfumes, clothing or vinyl records marked the elites, enjoyed enormous popularity, but later learned that they things that most Bulgarians could afford to buy if they were merely one of manyAuthor's popular brands in the West. Thepersonalcould get access to them. copy In short, the aspiration gap in same was true of Western deodorant sprays. Anelia Bulgaria before 1989 was rather small. explained, “In the eighties they already sold the Western brands that we used. We mainly used deodorants rather Post-socialism than perfumes from brands that we considered presti- gious, although we later on understood were only su- The political and economic changes in Bulgaria all permarket brands, like Rexona and Nivea.” Communist started on November 10th when — the 32 K. Ghodsee / Women's Studies International Forum 30 (2007) 26–39 country's communist leader for over 35 years — Heavy investment in advertising and marketing soon unexpectedly resigned. At the same time, 95% of the followed, and as I will explain later helped to fuel a Bulgarian economy was still controlled by the state surge in consumer spending for these goods. (Mladenova & Angresano, 1997:495). Although Bul- These radical changes in economic status coincided garians perceived November 10, 1989 as a milestone, in with dramatic changes in gender relations as the newly reality, the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) remained “democratic” Bulgarian government abandoned its functionally in power albeit under a new name: the commitment to provide guaranteed employment for its Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). It was not until the citizens. Since environmental groups led the initial Bulgarian economy imploded after bank failures and opposition to the communist regime in Bulgaria by rampant hyperinflation that Bulgarians took to the protesting the high levels of industrial pollution streets en masse and demanded real political change. (Cellarius and Ceadmon, 2002), post-socialist govern- Thus, Bulgaria's real transition away from communism ments were pressured to close heavy industrial enter- began in 1997. prises where mostly men were employed. These Under communism, Bulgaria had been the European workers were redirected to previously feminized jobs communist country that was most dependent on the in the light industries and services. At the same time, the Soviet Union and the Council of Mutual Economic new “democratic” state absolved Bulgarian citizens of Assistance (CMEA) trading bloc for its foreign trade their duty to work in the public sphere. Under com- (VICES, 1990). The “velvet revolutions” sweeping munism, Bulgarian women had suffered under what has through Eastern Europe and the final disbandment of the been called the “double burden”—that of being re- CMEA in 1991 crushed the Bulgarian economy sponsible for the family and for a full time job (Einhorn, (VICES, 1990). Between 1989 and 1998, the Bulgarian 1993). Although mothers were given very generous Gross Domestic Product (GDP) lost more than a third of maternity leave of up to 3 years, it was almost im- its value (World Bank, 1998). By 2003, per capita GDP possible for a woman to become a housewife or stay-at- had still not recovered up to 1989 levels and in- home mom (Ghodsee, 2004). When women were finally come polarization had increased (World Bank, given a choice, many freely left their jobs assuming that 2003:141+234). A common measure of poverty is they could return to work later if they wanted to and that how much household income is spent on meeting basic the state would continue to provide its generous social caloric requirements. One study that focused on the safety net (Gal & Kligman, 2000; Einhorn, 1993). middle class found that Bulgarians who considered Once men began to enter the labor market for themselves financially average spent 60.5% of their women's jobs and employment decisions were being household budgets on food in December 2000 (United made with an eye on generating private profits, Nations Development Program [UNDP], 2001:113). employers had new incentives to discriminate against With the majority of their incomes being spent on just women. The very laws that once helped women to feeding themselves, few Bulgarians had funds left over combine their productive and reproductive roles made for other essential goods and services such as heating them less competitive. The possibility of maternity and and electricity in the winter. The same report also found child-care leave in addition to frequent absences to tend that 80% of those polled in December 2000 said that to sick children meant that women could be seen as their incomes were less than what they considered for unreliable and expensive compared to men. Further- their necessary expenditures (UNDP, 2000). more, long subdued patriarchal gender roles began to The end of the central planning throughout the resurface. Since women were seen to have important former socialist world and the opening up of previously responsibilities in the family, and had showed an initial closed economies brought a flood of Western goods into preference for the home, employers could justify their Eastern Europe, including cosmetics and perfumes. discrimination against women workers by claiming that Demand for almost all communist-produced goods they had husbands to look after them. For those women evaporated as Eastern Europeans initially embraced who did not willingly leave their jobs, the post-1989 the overwhelming varietyAuthor's of Western products. Western personalrestructuring eventually copy hurt them because many sectors companies rushed in to secure market share for their where women were employed were the most vulnerable brands. The sudden availability of Western “stuff,” to redundancies, primarily the bloated public sector however, coincided with a precipitous decline in (Ghodsee, 2005). Employment in this sector experi- personal incomes and growing joblessness (NSI, enced a steady downward plunge throughout the 1990s. 2001). When the products were finally available for Women who lost their jobs in the public sector had a the masses, the masses could not afford to buy them. very difficult time finding new employment in the K. Ghodsee / Women's Studies International Forum 30 (2007) 26–39 33 emerging private sector. For the first time in their lives, a 6000% increase. In terms of foreign programming, there were not enough jobs to go around for the people there were 2715 h of it in 1993 (NSI, 1999:315) and who wanted to work. This scarcity of employment 128,615 h of it just 7 years later. The most shocking coincided with the fact that two incomes had now figure, however, (NSI, 2004:428) is the number of become necessary for most families to survive the television hours dedicated to commercials. This cate- hardships of transition. gory increased by 11,500% — from a mere 144 h a year In addition to the economic factors impacting gender in 1993 (NSI, 1999:315) to 16,698 h a year in 2000 relations, there were also many new social factors. (NSI, 2004:429). Prior to the end of communism, Western ideals of femininity and womanhood were Bulgaria only had two television stations, Channels One beginning to replace communist dogmas regarding the and Two, which were run by the state. The increase in equality of the sexes. Fashion and beauty became two of programming is largely due to the introduction of cable the most important markers of femininity in post- television. But even for Bulgarians who cannot afford socialist countries that had for so long defined women as cable or satellite television with its hundreds of chan- workers and mothers (producers), without an emphasis nels, the country now has three network channels. Thus, on physical beauty. In her ethnography of a borderland the transition from communism to capitalism was also a village after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Daphne Berdahl transition from small amounts of state-controlled media (1999) showed how beauty and femininity were the to massive amounts of commercially driven program- most “visible signs of difference” (p. 202) between West ming. Preslava, a pensioner in Sofia, explained, “There and East German women. In urban Bulgaria, the women is not a blank space left in the country. Everything is an I interviewed claimed that striving to be young and advertisement: the trams, the street signs, the apartment beautiful after 1989 served multiple purposes. Some blocs, even private cars!” said it was a way to demonstrate personal liberation Nor have older women been spared from the from communist mores. Others felt it was a way to onslaught of Western media and its new ideals of actively show your approval of the new, “modern” appropriate femininity. The staple of the new network culture of the West. Finally, according to one younger television channels, which are watched widely through- receptionist in Sofia, “You have to be good looking to out the country, is the dubbed Latin American soap get a job. Private companies do not want old, tired opera. These serial shows from Mexico, Colombia and women.” Indeed, employment ads in newspapers began Venezuela have proven to be extremely popular with openly advertising for “young” and “attractive” women Bulgarians in almost all demographics. They chronicle in the 1990s (Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, the tumultuous lives of the superrich on the world's 1999). most economically polarized continent. In these shows, For those who were not yet convinced of the it is not only the young who must be beautiful, but also necessity of looking good, a deluge of new private middle aged and older women who are held up to high media was funded in part by fashion and cosmetic standards of personal grooming. In addition to their age companies mounting slick and ubiquitous marketing appropriate but perfect appearances, there are also their campaigns. In the Czech Republic, Jacqui True (2003) luxurious homes and lifestyles, which are far beyond the has shown how the process of expanding consumer means of ordinary Latin Americans let alone ordinary markets was “…promoted by the marketing of gender Bulgarians. In her work on the aspiration gap, Schor identities in global culture industries and consumer (1999) cites research that shows that those who watch advertising (p. 103).” These gender identities in Bul- dramatic shows, such as daytime soap operas, are more garia rode in on a wave of new cultural phenomena after likely to have an inflated sense of what is a “normal” 1989. In particular, they came in cultural forms such as lifestyle compared to those who watch other genres of an increased amount of television programming (in- television (sports, news, etc). Since women in Bulgaria cluding shows imported from the West), women's mag- are the primary viewers of many of these new shows, azines, commercial billboards, music videos, and the women are also the most likely to be affected by them, advertising associatedAuthor's with them. personaland the particular ideals ofcopy femininity that they promote. The most significant of all of these cultural forms was Commercial women's magazines have also had an the exponential growth in television programming and important role to play in shaping gender ideals, pro- advertising available to Bulgarian viewers after the end moting consumerist identities, and fanning the prover- of communism. The total number of hours of television bial flames of the aspiration gap. Before 1989, there was programming increased from 6506 h in 1993 (NSI, only one national women's magazine, Zhenata Dnes, 1999:315) to 395,369 h in 2000 (NSI, 2004:428), about the editorial content of which was under complete 34 K. Ghodsee / Women's Studies International Forum 30 (2007) 26–39 control of the government through the Committee for commercial billboards and posters for L'Oreal, Clin- the Movement of Bulgarian Women, the communist ique, Revlon, and Nivea among many, many others. mass women's organization.5 The magazine was started Advertising on the Internet, which many urban Bul- in 1945, and showcased women and their activities in garian women use on a regular basis, is ubiquitous. Even building the bright socialist future. The editorial content in the supermarket, women are often confronted with a varied but the magazine focused on how women could wall of cosmetics together with promotional literature. combine their roles as workers and mothers, and articles Unless you live in total isolation in a village without such as “The Family and Stress”6 or “Good night with- electricity, not a day can go by without you somehow out Mama”7 helped to emphasize producerist identities seeing or hearing about some miracle product that will for women. Buried within all of these articles were a few erase fine lines by 37%. pages of the latest fashions, and often the magazine Twenty-four-hour music video channels like City included a pattern that could be used to sew these TV, Hit TV and Planeta, especially for Bulgarian designs. These fashion pages were usually toward the “turbo-folk” music, are also important sites where new end of the magazine, and consisted of six or eight photos beauty standards are being disseminated. These music of fashion models. Even less prominent was the beauty videos often feature female vocalists in provocative advice section, which largely consisted of recipes for and expensive clothes with full make-up and perfect natural cosmetics using things from the kitchen or new bodies singing about money and the pleasures of the hairstyle ideas. The magazine continued after 1989, but “good things” in life. Love, heartbreak and consumer- the first advertisement did not appear until March of ism are the staple of the lyrics of many of the songs, 1991, and then it was only on the back cover. A year and beauty and seduction are the suggested avenues for later, there were ads on the back cover and on the inside attaining a luxurious lifestyle. In particular, this genre of the front and back cover, but it is not until 1993 that of music became very popular with Bulgaria's new advertising appeared within the pages of the magazine. aspiring class of super-rich, and has fueled a cottage After 1989, many new privately owned women's plastic surgery industry in the big cities. “No one can magazines began to appear on the newsstands. By 2004, be that thin with breasts that big!” explained Evelina, a the most popular women's titles were beauty and fashion hairdresser. “IcouldbethatbeautifulifIhadthat magazines such as Eva (Eve), Moda (Fashion), Bela money.” (Beauty), Kosa i Stil (Hair and Style), and a Bulgarian After 1989, Bulgarians witnessed the creation of a version of the American magazine Cosmopolitan. Their new class of violent elites: the Mafia. The Bulgarian cover prices range from 6 levs for Eva to 3.20 levs for mob got its money and power both by ransacking the Bela, but most of the Bulgarian women I interviewed post-communist state and by illegally running arms and read these magazines in beauty salons or cafes. “I never fuel to Serbia during the embargo in the mid-1990s buy them,” said one university student, “but I read them (Nikolov, 1997). The aesthetic they preferred and all at the hairdresser.” As with most commercial mag- promoted was garish and excessive, what Roman azines, these publications are heavily dependent on (2003:39) has called “post-communist carnivalesque” advertising revenues. In all five of these magazines, in Romania and Bulgarians called “mobster baroque.” cosmetics and perfumery make up the majority of the The girlfriends of these mobsters were called mutressi, ads. Examining a sample of these five magazines from and they began to set the standard of femininity to which November 2004 demonstrated that for all of the mag- young girls would aspire. The hallmarks of the mutressi azines cosmetics and perfumery were a significant were extreme thinness, youth, beauty and fashionable source of ad revenue, and in the case of three of the clothing, and most of my informants had a kind of love/ magazines this category contributed more than 50% of hate relationship to these women, who for the most part the magazines' full-page ads. The ads are typical in that do not work, but shop all day and party at the most they feature very young, thin, flawless women smiling, fashionable clubs all night. If they do work, they work as confident and often scantily clad, promoting a cosmetic models or escorts in Sofia. Their lifestyle is ostentatious product. This is perhapsAuthor's normal in the West, but quitepersonaland their consumption conspicuouscopy— $3000 Hermes different from Zhenata Dnes where advertising had been hand bags can be seen on the arms of seventeen-year-old non-existent. Anelia told me, “I know that it is an girls when both her parents' pensions put together do advertisement, but they are easy to believe because I not equal more than $60 a month. want to believe them.” All of these factors combined to promote a new ideal In addition to the ads in women's magazines, most of femininity in society that made perfume and major cities in Bulgaria are plagued with an epidemic of cosmetics a necessity for surviving in the new post- K. Ghodsee / Women's Studies International Forum 30 (2007) 26–39 35 socialist reality. Of course, this process had begun under Table 1 communism, especially in the late 1980s when more and Percent change from 1997 to 2002 in retail sales in US dollars more Western goods had become available. And women Category of Total US dollar Total US dollar Percent had never stopped caring about their appearance. But it goods sales in 1997 sales in 2002 increase (%) was the intensity and ubiquity of the pressure to conform Perfumery and 36,666,240 84,391,429 130 to an unrealistic ideal that marked the post-1989 era. cosmetics Perhaps because of this pressure, spending on cosmetics Household articles 31,441,488 67,389,985 111 Household 57,372,118 121,081,367 114 and perfumery significantly exceeded growth in appliances incomes during critical years of the transition. Between Radios and TV sets 42,508,841 60,950,890 43 1997 and 2002, the average per capita household Clothing and 205,159,024 256,440,539 25 income increased by 71% (NSI, 1999:92, 2001:100, fur goods 2004:108) and the average annual wages for employees Footwear 119,401,334 141,887,337 19 Meat and 281,001,543 318,895,040 14 under labor contracts grew by 63% (NSI, 1999:243, meat products 2001:235, 2004:364). At the same time, however, Source: NSI, Statisticheski Godishnik (1999, 243), NSI, Statisticheski spending on perfumes and cosmetics grew by 130%, Godishnik (2001, 335), NSI, Statisticheski Godishnik (2004, p. 364). significantly more than for most other categories of goods (NSI, 1999:243, 2001:335, 2004:364). To meet this demand, the number of shops nation-wide dedicated what the economic geographer, Michael Storper (2001), solely to the sale of perfume and cosmetics increased has called “producerist” and “consumerist” identities from 1515 in 1996 (NSI, 1999:241) to 2507 in 2002 among urban Bulgarian men and women. Prior to the (NSI, 2004:364), a 65% increase. This figure does not onset of globalization in the United States and Western include pharmacies or beauty salons that probably sell Europe, individual identities were primarily shaped by the most cosmetics, nor does it include the increased what people produced through employment in the formal number of general goods stores, supermarkets, discount economy. Vocation was the basis of the “producerist” warehouse stores, gas stations, and companies such as identity, and personal satisfaction was intimately bound Avon, Amway or Oriflame that sell products directly to with satisfaction at work and making a “good” living. As women. Avon Bulgaria alone had 35,000 representa- domestic economies became more integrated into the tives selling Avon products in almost every town and global economy, international competition began to put village in 2005.8 In 2006, Oriflame started the year with downward pressure on wages. At the same time, over 25,000 distributors, of whom 95% were women.9 however, the introduction of labor saving technologies, The table demonstrates that spending on cosmetics deregulation, privatization, outsourcing and free trade, and perfumery (a relatively narrow category of goods) while devastating for many workers, have lowered the increased faster than several other categories of goods prices of most goods and services. This process has led to that might have also been expected to rise as Bulgarians the creation of what Storper calls a “consumer surplus.” had more disposable income. In particular, the spending Although wages and benefits are falling and jobs are on goods that urban men generally favor in Bulgaria — scarcer and less stable, people are still able to buy more. home entertainment equipment and suits — did not The existence of this consumer surplus is why few increase as fast as spending on cosmetics. Furthermore, American or Western Europeans have challenged the although the absolute amounts are smaller for perfume erosion of the workers' position under globalization. and cosmetics, it is the percentage increase that is more Even though their incomes are smaller, global capitalism important because of the relative cheapness of shampoo allows them to consume more with less money. or toothpaste compared to television sets or refrigera- The introduction of cheaper and higher quality tors. These numbers beg the question: why would imports in one category of goods fuels consumer de- spending on this particular category of goods so mands for cheaper and higher quality imports in other significantly outstrip spending in others?(Table 1)10 categories, and manufacturers are able to introduce more Author's personallabor saving technology copy or, in the Western case, move “Producerist” and “Consumerist” identities production abroad in order to satisfy the consumer de- mands. Slowly, individual workers facing redundancy The answer to this question may lie in part in the or settling for lower skilled jobs abandon their “pro- particular gendering of the aspiration gap in the post- ducerist” identities as workers and embrace “consum- socialist context, the confluence of circumstances sur- erist” identities as shoppers, whereby self worth is rounding the economic transition and the gradual shift in increasingly reflected more in what you buy rather than 36 K. Ghodsee / Women's Studies International Forum 30 (2007) 26–39 in what you do. As the “consumerist” identity eclipses breadwinner–housewife model (although an idealized the “producerist” one, men and women focus more on one that was only really available to the upper-middle material objects as symbols of their own worth, and classes) re-emerged in Bulgaria at the exact same his- Schor's (1999) aspiration gap begins to take hold. For it torical moment when Western companies were attempt- is not only the quantity of things that matters, but the ing to expand consumer markets for their goods. The quality of goods. When we have consumerist identities, media, advertising, and new tropes of femininity sup- our possessions are the status markers that let the world ported the idea that women were primarily consumers know where we stand in the hierarchy of wealth, power, for the first time. These tropes became essentialized as and influence. The higher we wish to climb, the more we natural difference between men and women. Women must buy. Furthermore, according to Schor (1999), like Anelia, Iolanta, Violeta, and Ivana were all very societies that are economically dependent on consumer happy at the sudden availability of things from the West spending fuel the aspiration gap through the media, and initially embraced consumerism before they real- direct advertising and constant product innovation. ized that the onset of free markets would have its price. The amount of stuff needed to be considered “normal” Violeta explained, “I thought we would have our normal steadily increases even as average wages may be falling. things [heat, water, electricity, education, healthcare, In order to keep up, individuals feel compelled to buy etc] and all of these goods in addition.” But of course, the latest, newest goods, particularly things that can be this was not to be as women had to make tough choices openly displayed to others. between meeting their basic needs and enjoying the new Taking this model and applying it to Bulgaria sheds consumer plenty. some light on the effects that the economic transition has The rise of the new gender roles also had important had on shaping individual subjectivities. Under com- implications for the types of goods and services that men munism, both men and women had very strong “pro- and women bought. As the state retreated from its ducerist” identities; male and female subjectivities in the paternalistic role, the new breadwinner ideal encouraged public sphere were primarily determined by occupation men to look after their families in lieu of the communist and membership in the communist party. Although government. Discursively, men became responsible for communist subjects certainly used consumption as a all of the basic costs associated with living previously way to create alternative and sometimes even subversive subsidized or provided by the government. Women, on identities, their primary identity in society was associ- the other hand, were freed from their responsibilities as ated with their workplace. Where you lived, where you workers and allowed to leave the labor force at will holidayed, where you went to the hospital, etc was all under the assumption that they would be taken care of determined by the state enterprise that employed you. by their fathers or husbands (Gal & Kligman, 2000). Of When communism collapsed in 1989 and Bulgaria's course, men were targeted as consumers as well, but not economy was pried open by globalization, unemploy- to the extent that women were. ment climbed, wages fell, and state benefits disappeared Before 1989, there were very minimal costs associ- as economic restructuring closed down many Bulgarian ated with heat, water, electricity, food, education, health industries (Kalinova and Baeva, 2002; Giatzidis, 2002). care and other essential goods and services. As free At the same time, Bulgaria was flooded with cheap markets for these goods and services were created, cost imported consumer goods. But unlike in the United recovery and profits incentives drove the prices of health States, the introduction of global competition and free care, schooling, housing and utilities up. Relative to the markets in Bulgaria caused prices for most things to rise communist period, the cost of the basic things like rather than fall. Thus, while there was a consumer water, electricity, heat, and education that “good” men surplus available for some goods and services, there was were now at least discursively responsible for providing a considerable consumer deficit for others. grew considerably. On the other hand, the costs of goods In Bulgaria, the distribution of the consumer surplus that the communists had deemed inessential — such as and deficit broke down along gendered lines. The imported perfume and cosmetics — actually fell relative changes brought aboutAuthor's by the onset of capitalism personalto the previous period. copy Global competition also vastly allowed many of the urban women I interviewed to increased the variety of consumer goods available. shift away from their “worker” identities. “It was a Thus, for the types of goods for which women were pleasure not to have to work,” said Iolanta, who left her now being encouraged to consume — consumer goods job in the early 1990s to look after her two young such as clothing, footwear, household appliances, and children and who was lucky enough to have a husband cosmetics and perfumery, there was a consumer surplus. with a large enough salary to support them all. This This consumer surplus, coupled with the media K. Ghodsee / Women's Studies International Forum 30 (2007) 26–39 37 messages freeing women from the imperative of formal consumerist identities and a growing aspiration gap employment and bombarding them with feminine ideals (Schor, 1998). As of 2002, there were only about 50,000 that prioritize physical beauty and the ownership of credit cards in all of Bulgaria,12 and although this beautiful things, contributed to a gradual shift in many number is rising, Bulgaria is still largely a cash based Bulgarian women's identity away from the “producer- society. Thus, unlike in the United States where con- ist” pole and toward the “consumerist” one. Alterna- sumerist identities and the aspiration gap lead to high tively, the consumer deficit for housing, utilities, food levels of personal indebtedness, in Bulgaria women stuffs, education and health care (things men are now cannot yet spend that far beyond their means. There may expected to provide for in lieu of the state) has forced actually be greater demand for goods other than per- many men to stay closer to the “producerist” pole of fumes and cosmetics, but women may not be able to pay identity as they struggle to find well paid and stable for them in cash. As credit cards become more widely employment to support their families. This is not to say available in Bulgaria, spending on other categories of that Bulgarian men have not become consumers as well, consumer non-durables may see a dramatic growth. But but rather that “successful masculinity” in Bulgaria is for now, Bulgarian women may have to settle for first about a man's occupation and income level, and performing their new feminine identity through their only second about how he looks or what he owns. potions, lotions and lipsticks. Furthermore, I do not believe that women have com- I would like to end by saying that there is nothing pletely lost their producerist identities — many urban inherently “wrong” with spending money on perfume women still work and their consumerist identities have and cosmetics, and I wish to pass no moral judgments on become an essential part of their producerist lives in Bulgarian women who enjoy pampering themselves and terms of having to look good to find work, an interesting experimenting with new and different products. In fact, contradiction that deserves further observation. Nor am I psychologists Heather Bullock and Julian Fernald trying to make gross generalizations about all urban men (2003) found that even young women in the United and all urban women, certainly there are some men who States who identify themselves as feminists were more are far closer to the consumerist pole of identity than responsive to female public speakers who wore make-up many women. However, in the aggregate I would argue and had styled hair than they were to those who went that urban women tend to fall closer to the consumerist bare-faced with their hair slicked back. But in a society pole than men. Finally, if having a primarily “consum- that is becoming more and more intolerant of the erist” identity makes one more susceptible to the unbeautiful, there is tremendous pressure being placed influence of Schor's aspiration gap, then women in upon women and especially girls to conform to an Bulgaria may spend more on goods that will demon- unrealistic feminine ideal that did not exist in Bulgaria strate their status under a new system that values in- as recently as 15 years ago. dividual feminine worth based on her looks. And this feminine ideal is not only being used to sell Since Western cosmetics and perfumes were so clay masques and hair gel; it is also implicated in scarce and highly sought-after under communism, it marketing a wide variety of goods and services that were should be no surprise that women have embraced the once considered unnecessary or frivolous under social- new variety of products and price points available.11 ism. As the aspiration gap continues to grow, there is no Furthermore, as we have seen, the influence of the doubt that “new and improved” beauty standards and private media has placed a strong emphasis on women's gender ideals in the popular media will be used to beauty, and success in the labor market may be linked to expand product markets and increase consumerism as physical attractiveness. Appearance and personal the memory of socialist egalitarianism fades ever further grooming are also very visible signs of whether or not into the seemingly irretrievable past. While this is a woman can afford to “take care of herself,” and certainly beneficial for the domestic and transnational whether or not she has repudiated the “ugliness” of corporations specializing in the production of these communist egalitarian gender roles. Moreover, per- goods, their value to materially improving the lives of fumes and cosmeticsAuthor's are relatively inexpensive andpersonalBulgarian women remains copy rather questionable. expendable. A woman does not have to make a major One the one hand, just as women “dressed up” to investment to change the color of her hair, the shade of avoid the drabness of Soviet communism, so too may her eye shadow or nail polish, or the way she smells to some women in Bulgaria be participating in the con- others. The cheapness of these goods is very important sumption of these goods in order to escape the harsh given that there is a lack of consumer credit available to realities of capitalism. On the other hand, some women fuel the “competitive acquisition” that follows from may be strategically using these goods in order to 38 K. Ghodsee / Women's Studies International Forum 30 (2007) 26–39 promote their producerist identities once again. Women spend on perfume and cosmetics? Or is this dramatic increase in the are aware of the new beauty standards and accept them spending of the top 10% hiding a stagnation or decline in spending in the bottom 90%? Unfortunately, the National Statistical Institute does as a way to get ahead in a competitive labor market. not disaggregate this data by income deciles. Based on my fieldwork, I Either way, there still exists “the manipulation inherent propose that this spending largely occurs to urban women. in the fashion and cosmetic industries” as the media and 11 If we look at Table 1, we see that spending for cosmetics and advertisers promote an almost unattainable ideal of perfumery, household articles, and household appliances all increased Bulgarian beauty to sell more mascara. To counter the more than 100% between 1997 and 2002. These are all goods associated with women’s new domestic and feminine role in society as Drakulic quote at the start of this article, in this age of well as goods that are much cheaper and more available now than they rampant global capitalism and unprecedented market were under communism (i.e., where there is a consumer surplus). In the expansion, maybe even the “Bangladeshis” need to start other categories that I have listed, spending has also increased, but worrying about their cholesterol. clothing, shoes, TVs, radios, and meat were readily available under communism and often at subsidized prices. Thus, they lack the social cache associated with goods that were once scarce under communism, Acknowledgements nor is the consumer surplus for these goods as large as it is for the top three categories. The author would like to thank Jennifer Scanlon, 12 “JCB and Bulgaria's Transcard Sign License Agreements for Elaine Weiner, Anne Clifford, Elissa Helms, Christian Merchant Acquiring and Operations, Card Issuing” JCB Press Release, Filipov, Maria Stoilkova, Sirma and Ivan Kozarev, and October, 29, 2004. Available online at: http://www.jcbinternational. com/htm/about/releases/20041029.htm, Access date: February 10, Genevieve Creedon for their helpful comments on 2005. different drafts of this manuscript. I also want to ac- knowledge the research support of grants that I received from the International Research and Exchanges Board References (IREX), Fulbright, the National Council for Eurasian Bebel, August (1904). Woman and socialism. New York: Labor News and East European Research (NCEEER), UC Berkeley, Press. and the Fletcher Family Fund at Bowdoin College. I am Berdahl, Daphne (1999). Where the world ended: Re-unification and also grateful to the many Bulgarian women who shared identity in the German Borderland. Berkeley: UC Press. ‘ ’ their thoughts and experiences with me over the years. Bullock, Heather, & Fernald, Julian (2003). Feminism lite? Feminist identification, speaker appearance, and perceptions of feminist and This is a shortened version of a much longer paper, and antifeminist messages. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 27, 291−299. the author welcomes questions and comments at Cellarius, Barbara, & Straddon, Caedmon (2002). Environmental [email protected]. nongovernmental organizations, civil society, and democratization in Bulgaria. East European Politics and Societies, 16(1), 182−222. Endnotes Drakulic, Slavenka (1991). How we survived communism and even laughed. New York: HarperPerennial. Einhorn, Barbara (1993). Cinderella goes to market: Citizenship, gender, 1 A Swedish direct marketing cosmetics company that is similar to the and women's movements in East Central Europe. London: Verso. American company “Avon.” Engels, Frederich (1972). Origin of the family, private property and 2 This exampled is based on older Bulgarian women's perceptions of the state. New York: Pathfinder Press. how the communist planners did things, and grounded in interviews Etcoff, Nancy (2000). Survival of the prettiest: The science of beauty. that I conducted with former state planners that had once been New York: Random House, Inc. responsible for other sectors of the economy before 1989. Gal, Susan, & Kligman, Gail (2000). The politics of gender after 3 All names have been changed. socialism: A comparative-historical essay. Princeton: Princeton 4 The nomenclatura is a word used to refer to the communist elite (or the University Press. bourgeois as they were often called); those who had special privileges Ghodsee, Kristen (2004). Red nostalgia? Communism, women's under communism due to their position within the communist party. emancipation, and economic transformation in Bulgaria. L'Homme. 5 I was able to look at over 100 back issues of Zhenata Dnes from Zeitschrift für Feministische Geschichtswissenschaft, 15(1). 1953–1959 and from 1982–1994. Ghodsee, Kristen (2005). The Red Riviera: Gender, tourism and 6 Dimitur Vassilev, “The Family and Stress,” (in Bulgarian), Zhenata postsocialism on the Black Sea. Durham: Duke University Press. Dnes, February 1984, p. 36. Giatzidis, Emile (2002). An introduction to postcommunist Bulgaria: 7 “Good night without Mama” (in Bulgarian) Zhenata Dnes, April Political, economic, and social transformation. Manchester: 1982, p. 6. Author's personalManchester University Press. copy 8 Information on Avon Bulgaria from: http://www.amcham.bg/cgi-bin/ Gray, Francine du Plessix (1989). Soviet women: Walking the e-cms/vis/vis.pl?n=001055&p=0013, Access date, February 10, 2005. tightrope. New York: Doubleday. 9 Personal e-mail communication with Milen Konkalov, Oriflame Sales Hessler, Julie (2004). A social history of Soviet trade: Trade policy, Manager in March 2006. retail practice, and consumption, 1917–1953. Princeton: Princeton 10 The problem with these figures is that it is hard to discern exactly University Press. which Bulgarian women are doing the spending. Are all Bulgarian Kalinova, Eugenia, & Baeva, Iskra (2002). Bulgarskite Prehodi 1939– women (and some men of course) increasing the amount of money they 2002 (The Bulgarian Transitions, 1939–2002). Sofia: Paradigma. K. Ghodsee / Women's Studies International Forum 30 (2007) 26–39 39

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