Ilise Carter, The Red Menace

In this episode, Anne Marie talks to author, sweetheart of the sideshow, and fashion writer Ilise Carter about her new book The Red Menace: How Lipstick Changed the Face of American History.  

In America, lipstick is the foundation of empires; it’s a signature of identity; it’s propaganda, self-expression, oppression, freedom, and rebellion. It’s a multi-billion-dollar industry and one of our most iconic accessories of gender.

From the colonial period until today, this engaging book focuses on the many-layered historical aspects of this one product including, social, cultural, marketing, corporate, political, religion, and much more.

ILISE S. CARTER is a freelance writer, consulting copywriter to the beauty industry, and sideshow performer based in New York City. She has written for Allure, New York Times, Racked, Wall Street Journal, and others, with a focus on pop culture. In addition, she’s spent over a decade as a consulting copywriter for beauty brands such as Shiseido, bliss, Laura Mercier, Avon, L’Oréal, and Madame CJ Walker, specializing in brand voice and identity. As her stage persona, The Lady Aye, she has worked as a professional sideshow performer (sword swallower, fire eater, blockhead, and pain-proof girl) and MC with acts ranging from Rob Zombie to Cirque du Soleil, and has appeared on TV’s Gossip Girl, Oddities, The President Show, Mysteries at the Museum and Dickinson. Carter holds a BA in American Studies from Barnard College at Columbia University and a Certificate in Film Production from NYU. 

Resources

The Red Menace, Ilise Carter: https://amzn.to/3RlTemL
My Life as a Sword Swallower, The Atlantic: https://bit.ly/3QfYK96
Lady Aye, Website: https://www.ladyaye.com
Tough Jews, Richard Cohen: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780375705472
Hope in a Jar, Kathy Peiss: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-8050-5550-4
Lipstick Index, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipstick_index
Fierce: The History of Leopard Print, Jo Weldon: https://amzn.to/3etuM48
Shocked and Amazed: On and Off the Midway, James Taylor: https://amzn.to/3et6jvL

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