Women In Advertising Blog Post 2

Morgan Bilodeau

February 6, 2015

                                                     Women In Advertising

            1942: the year the TV began its appearance into our culture. The TV changed the way women were depicted. With TV, there comes advertising. In chapter two of Feminism And Pop Culture Advertising, Andi Zeisler depicts how a woman is portrayed in our society. “ Even the best movies, the giddiest television romps, the most memorable add campaigns speak of what women can and should-or shouldn’t-be” (Zeisler 23). During World War II America decided to take advantage of TV and radio to advertise and market to as many people as possible. For women, advertising only explained what woman should and shouldn’t do and what they were and weren’t capable of. Advertisement agencies believed that for a women to buy a product they had to make a women feel insecure about their body. “…too short, too tall, too fat, too skinny, dull-haired, lumpy-bottomed, flat-chested, thin-lipped, too pale, not pale enough, too smart, too dumb, not sexy, a lax housekeeper, a lazy cook, a bad mother, a neglectful spouse” (Zeisler 24). Similar to today, during the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s women were judged by the way they looked and behaved. They were held to the standard of being a good mother, a good wife, a good cook, and while doing this they had to look attractive all at the same time. Advertising was responsible for this depiction of women. For example in the chapter Zeisler writes “They were supposed to be interim heads of households, of course, as instructed by the myriad pitches in women’s magazines that showed mothers and children donating tin cans and toothpaste tubes…They were supposed to be glamourpusses” (Zeisler 28). This is horrible! If I lived back in this era I don’t know if I would have been able to be held to these standards. To be a housewife and to look good is an extremely hard thing to do, especially at the same time. Women should not be expected to be superheroes. There are so many ideas and breakthroughs that could have been created, but weren’t because women were expected to be seen and not heard.