Gender representation in 1950s advertising

Overview

The ideology of domesticity in detergent advertising, read through three feminist positions, with an intersectional reading and the historical context that makes sense of it.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   How is the woman in 1950s detergent advertising typically represented?

   Model answer

   The woman is represented as a cheerful homemaker whose competence is measured by domestic results. Satisfaction is shown as coming from the product's performance.

2. 2

   What is the ideology of domesticity?

   Model answer

   The ideology of domesticity holds that a woman's proper sphere is the home and family. 1950s advertising presented that arrangement as natural and fulfilling.

3. 3

   What does van Zoonen argue about gender?

   Model answer

   Van Zoonen argues that gender is constructed through discourse. The meaning of gender varies according to cultural and historical context.

4. 4

   How does van Zoonen's argument apply to advertising imagery?

   Model answer

   Van Zoonen treats the exhibition of the female body as a core feature of western patriarchal culture, not an occasional excess. Advertising is where that exhibition is most routine.

5. 5

   What does van Zoonen say about male and female bodies as spectacle?

   Model answer

   Van Zoonen argues that mainstream culture uses different visual and narrative codes for the male body. Codes that construct men as spectacle differ from those that objectify women.

6. 6

   How does bell hooks's definition of feminism bear on advertising?

   Model answer

   For bell hooks, feminism is the movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression. Advertising that trades on sexist imagery is part of what that movement opposes.

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