The Representation of Women in 1940s-1950s American Advertising;
To what Extent are Women Empowered or Objectified
Catherine Dove, Tara Whatley, Celia Chang, Maggie, Gary Chi Ho
Excessive
Consumption
Representation of family
- Married couples and children as ideal family
- Consumerism of post-war culture
- Full fridge
- Consumption and purchases define your social status
Clothing
The Female Dependency
- Represents the idealized working relationship between man and wife
- Woman-wears apron
- Man-a suit
- Advertisers focused on women either through the 'housewife' or the 'mother'
- Solely focuses on white middle-class woman
“The predominant strain of address to the postwar woman was toward unmitigated consumption but within a restrictive, domesticated sphere” (Renov, 1989, p.14)
Mass Production & Consumption
Here they come!
The Targeting of Women
- Text of advertisement reassures customers
- Background
- Numerous appliances
- End of war
- Women back to domestic duties
Imagery
Baby Boom
- The bubble-dreaming
- The shine
- Colours
- Framing
- The baby boom (1945-64) began, with the birth rate shooting up 25% right after the war
- It stayed high, leading advertisers to focus on mothers with new babies.
Convenience
Representation of women
In a time where “domestic labour was acknowledged as her constant companion” (Renov, 1989, p.15)
'Speedier shine- more free time- with...'
- Clothing
- Make-up & Hairstyle
- Emotion
Fordism
Conclusion
Introduction
Introduction &
The Representation of Women
Context
Economics in Post-war America
The Representation of Women
Bibliography
- During the war women were empowered, able to earn their own income and complete formerly 'masculine' jobs.
- After the war there was a huge transition between the industrial woman to the domestic woman.
- Post-war ads generalized and objectified women as 'wife' or 'mother', both situated in a domestic sphere.
- However, the industrial experience of 1940s women, combined with the economic boom, made American women become more aggressive in trying to win their full freedoms and civil rights.
- Labor shortages quickly emerge when all able bodied men enlisted as soldiers.
- Women replaced men as the industrial workforce.
- Pro-American and patriotic messages
- Patriotic colours
- Strong women doing masculine jobs
- Women in industry during WW2
- The transition between the industrial and domestic woman
- 'Advertisers realized the necessity of making preparations for postwar society—laying off women after the war and restoring them to their previous positions as housewives and mothers' (Rupp 160)
- The relationship between husband & housewife
- Huge increase in mass production and consumption
- Advertisers taking advantage of the 'baby boom' and women as maternal figures
- World War II started in America in 1941 and finished in 1945.
- Brief recession before the economy boomed.
- By 1950 almost two-thirds of American families achieved middle-class status.
- The economy overall grew by 37% during the 40s & 50s.
- The baby boom between 1945 and 1947.
- Americans in the late Forties & Fifties became "consumers."
- Spending on product promotion boomed.
Adage.com,. '1940S War, Cold War And Consumerism'. N.p., 2005. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
Education Portal,. 'Post-War American Life: Culture Of The Late 1940S & 1950S - Video & Lesson Transcript | Education Portal'. N.p., 2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.
Renov, M. (1989). Advertising/photojournalism/cinema: The shifting rhetoric of forties female representation. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 11(1), pp.1-21.
Rupp, Leila J. Mobilizing Women For War. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1978. Print.
Vanessa Martins Lamb. The 1950’s and the 1960’s and the American Woman : the transition from the ”housewife” to the feminist. History. 2011.
Today
- Whilst equality is predominant in modern society the relationship between man and wife, as the 'bread-winner' and the 'stay-at-home mum' , is still common in today's adverts.
How did the progressions in 1940s advertising change the contextual interpretations of the woman?
Do you think modern society still carries the messages coded in post-war advertising?