PROPAGANDANovember 2014

The decades issue

WHAT IS PROPAGANDA?

1950s

1960s

1970s

THE HOUSEWIFE

A TIME OF TRANSITION

FREEDOM?

MONTHLY

PROPAGANDA VERSUSADVERTISING

IS THERE A DIFFERENCE?

FIND OUT WHAT THE EXPERTS HAVE TO SAY

In-depth analysis on yesterday’s advertising for today’s woman

Hosted on issuu.com

THIS MONTH

Advertisers and the ‘ideal’ 1950s woman

1950spg. 3

1960s

1970s

pg. 4Further exploration of 1950s ads

pg. 5Gradual changes begin

pg. 7A dramatic shift in advertising culture

pg. 8 Further exploration of 1970s ads

extras

pg. 2Letter from the editor

pg. 9Works cited

pg. 6Further exploration of 1960s ads

Is this propaganda?Read on for an in-depth look at advertising in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s

See works cited, pg. 9, for photo credits 1

LETTER FROM THE EDITORDear readers, From submissive housewives to striving for equal rights, the 1950s to 1970s were a time of drastic change for women. The media played an important role in these changes, with advertisements making an impression in particular. While some ads placed women in traditional roles, others featured men and women side by side as equals. No industry was an exception, as ads from vacuum cleaners to soda to clothing made statements about a woman’s place in society. This month’s issue will juxtapose the advertisements against the time period, showing the case for propaganda for each of these advertisements. You’ll find a full analysis of the advertisements and what each one says about society’s propagated perception of women from the 1950s to 1970s. While propaganda is an extremely broad and widely debated term, for the purposes of this month’s issue, I would like to use this definition: “Propaganda is the technique of influencing human action by the manipulation of representations” (Seligman 1934: 1). I am using this definition because, in my opinion, what are advertisements if not representations? These advertisements represent people and the products the company is trying to sell in a certain manner. While magazine advertisements like the ones on these magazine pages certainly have

entertainment value, that aspect is not the core reason behind the creation of an advertisement. This type of entertainment, especially in the commercial media, boasts “the merit not only of being better suited to helping sell goods; it is an effective vehicle for hidden ideological messages” (Herman 1988: 2), such as the ideologies presented about women in the advertisements analyzed in this magazine. An ideology, by definition, is “a systematic body of concepts especially about human life or culture” (Merriam-Webster Online: 3). The model, or even featured object, who is the main subject of an argument, is actively representing an idea the advertiser is attempting to sell to the audience along with the product. This subject is, effectively,

a performer for the audience. It could be argued that “the object of a performer is to sustain a particular definition of the situation, this representing, as it were, his claim as to what reality is” (Goffman 1959: 4). In order for the advertisement to be effective, the audience must either accept the advertiser’s ideology, already believe it to be true, or at least find some value or humor in the statement. The advertisements featured in this issue speak on aspects of women’s lives including, but not limited to, their clothing, family identities, sexuality, role in relation to men, political ideas and general place in society. A major change occurred in the 1960s, featuring women as more than housewives and as increasingly independent and even sexual beings. The ideas propagated about women in the following advertisements differ according to the time period, but these ads also place women’s identities in narrow boxes.Even though advertising was arguably more empowering for women in the 1970s, featuring their independence, companies also seemingly took advantage of this newfound independence to sell products that did not necessarily have a direct relation to this empowerment. This issue will take an in-depth look at the changes over the decades. While advertising changed from 1950 to 1970, and has certainly evolved since then, what has not changed is advertisers’ generalized representations of women.

Photo credit: Mike Kropf

Photo credit: vintageadbrowser.com Photo credit: vintageadbrowser.com Photo credit: taschen.com

1950s

1960s

1970s

featured

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THE 1950SAdvertisers and the ‘ideal’ ‘50s woman The perfect woman of the 1950s took care of the children, cleaned the house, cooked the meals and kept quiet. At least that is what most advertisers would have magazine readers believe. The Hoover vacuum advertisement on this page is a prime example of the ideology that women are meant to not only be in the home, but to enjoy their place there as well. The “all women are homemakers” ideology was ideology supported by the “Leave it to Beaver society of the 1950s where societal roles were much more specific: Men were the breadwinners, and women were the homemakers” (Sheehan 2013: 5). The common idea that women were meant to serve men and children in the home by cooking and cleaning is supported in this advertisement. According to a 1993 study of women’s magazines from the 1950s to 1980s, only 13 percent of women featured in 1958 magazines showed women in working roles (Busby 1993: 6). With the rise of the working woman and the “Rosie the Riveter” ads, “women “achieved perhaps too much economic independence during World War II, which makes the oppressive qualities of the domestic ideal of the 1950s all the more harmful to the construction of women’s identities” (Holt: 7). Shortly after the war

ended, the men returned from battle and the Cold War grew near, putting “an added emphasis on family unity as a defense against communism, making the role of women as wives and mothers crucial to the preservation of the United States and its democratic ideals” (Catalano 2002: 8).

Women’s brief empowerment due to the World War II effort was stripped indefinitely and many returned to domestic roles. Advertisements, like the “Christmas morning, she’ll be happier with a Hoover” ad, reflected these roles. The implication is also that women embraced these roles without complaint or protest. Ads continuously reinforced this

image. The image of the woman in advertising either reflected or inflicted women being in the home; only 30 percent of women enrolled in college in 1950 even though general enrollment increased by 49 percent in the 1950s (U.S. Department of Education 1993: 9).

The woman in this particular Hoover ad represents the idea of the “perfect” woman: wearing a dress with a long skirt, fulfilling and loving her role as a housewife, and appreciative of the household gift her husband bought her.

Of course, women’s behavior may have been different underneath the surface and behind the scenes. Contrary to the propaganda printed in magazines, Alfred Kinsey found that not all women identified as innocent in their private lives. Sexual Behavior in the Human Female shocked people nationwide, revealing facts such as almost 50 percent of females surveyed “had coitus before they were married” (Kluckhohn 1953: 10).

The advertisements presenting women, who were clearly were more sexual than most of America thought, as domestic and “squeaky clean” were propaganda that promoted women fulfilling traditional gender roles. However, advertising in the 1960s brought a new perspective to how society viewed women.

Photo credit: becreative.co.uk

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THE 1950SFurther exploration of 1950s ads

Photo credits: vintageadbrowser.com

These B. Altman & Co. clothing advertisements, featuring full skirts, present the qualities of fragility not only as qualities women should have, but qualities that set the standard of what being a woman is. This is a gender construct that continues to live on in advertisements today. This propagates that women are meant to be dainty and delicate. The top left advertisement says, “the lines of 1958,” implying that a certain look is required to fit in during this specific time period.

The top right advertisement is a prime example of the “ideal woman” ideology explored in the 1950s section of this magazine. The outfit is frilly and includes an elegant pair of gloves. The company describes the woman who would buy these products as a “lovely lady,” using the words “fragile” and feminine.” This advertisement, evidently for Valentine’s Day, presents the woman as a man’s perfect, dainty object for the holiday. The ad also suggests that a woman wants these features, as the advertiser uses these adjectives instead of works like “strong” or “powerful.” The ad does not indicate that the latter qualities would be desirable.

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THE 1960SGradual changes begin From housewives to hippies, the 1960s were certainly a transitional time period. The variety in advertisements certainly reflected the diversity of the decade. When looking at the advertisements, it is important to recognize the role of women’s rights in the 1960s. While advertisements and society in the early 1960s did not differ greatly from those of the 1950s, the mid-to-late 1960s brought social movements like feminism. Feminists during this time period worked so that “politicization of hairstyles, dress, and self- presentation became central to the cultural politics of the second-wave feminist movement” (Hillman 2013: 11). Women’s rights groups like National Organization for Women (NOW) pushed for legislation that sought rights for women, such as banning gender discrimination in the workplace (Hillman). However, before and during the rise of feminism, traditional beauty standards for women were still present. The “pear-shaped” ad on this page is an example of the standards women were expected to meet. A curvier body clearly

did not fit the beauty standards of the time. The advertisement’s copy highlights the importance of having a “proportioned body,” which one could supposedly attain by purchasing and using this product. A proportioned body was what was expected of women, whether it was realistic or not, and it was “feminine” to have a proportioned body. It is clear that a pear was “no shape for a girl” during that time, establishing the ideology that being a woman and being thin were synonymous. Whether empowering for women or not, advertisements featuring women in a non-traditional fashion like some of the ads on the next page certainly presented women to the public in a different manner. Women, however, still felt pressured to match society’s idea of a good wife and women, so while they found “greatleaps of liberation during the 1960s they were still bound by the oppression of the domestic

ideal, much like the problem that working women of today face” (Holt). The wide range of types of advertisements in magazines showed the ideological struggle women publicly went through during this era. While some women still filled the role of housewife, others strived to break out of that role and even reject traditional ideas of femininity. Ads on the following pages reflect these ideals. Of course, these ideas did not come out of nowhere. Women and advertisers simply seem to not have been bold enough to publicly embrace these ideas in the 1950s. However, the major shift occurred in the 1960s. The changes in the 1960s set the course for advertising in the 1970s, which arguably aimed to empower women more than ads had since the days of Rosie the Riveter.

Photo credit: vintageadbrowser.com

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THE 1960SLooking deeper into ‘60s advertisements

Photo credits: All from vintageadbrowser.com

The top left clothing ad, which is from 1960, features a somewhat typical early 1960s look. The women are wearing pastels, frilly dresses and full skirts. The word “belle,” which is French for “beautiful,” indicates that the desired look achieved by wearing one of these dresses is feminine and sophisticated. The advertisement also highlights the dresses’ “dainty tucking and lace inserts.” The top right ad, a men’s pants ad from 1964, directly states that a woman would only wear corduroys that would appear unisex to audiences today to a costume party. The faceless man and woman in the ad are almost presented as equals, if not for the ad’s text. The bottom left ad, from 1968, portrays the “sexy librarian” trope that a typical audience would likely recognize today. This is a major shift from the innocent and dainty feel of the top left advertisement. It is not a far cry from the overtly sexual advertisements of the 21st century. The 1960s were clearly a time of change in the advertising world.

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THE 1970SA dramatic shift in advertising culture Times were certainly changing in the 1970s. Instead of limiting women to domestic roles, many advertisers attempted to highlight women’s independence. In the 1970s, Virginia Slims cigarettes launched an ad campaign for women using the phrase, “You’ve come a long way, baby,“ featuring multiple women in different settings This particular ad was striking because of the poem used in the upper left hand corner, implying that she is more than the domestic, dainty woman who married “Dear Old Dad.” The cigarette ad focused on how far women had come since their mother’s generation. While the ad presents itself as empowering women, it is actually taking advantage of their independence instead of celebrating it. Instead of a woman’s progress in society and independence coming from within, the ad implied that a woman needs a Virginia Slims cigarette in order to truly achieve this. The ad propagated that a particular cigarette led to a specific, better life for women, even though “women’s activists maintained that allowing women broader choices in their lives -- and not necessarily mandating a certain lifestyle for

women -- was the ultimate goal of feminist activism” (Hillman). In 1972, Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment, which read, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex” (History.com: 12). However, only 35 out of the required 38 states ratified the amendment, and it was not added to the United States Constitution. Regardless, the amendment was a major part of NOW’s agenda, as well as a big aspect of the feminist movement. Other reforms in the public sphere did occur due to the feminist push, including the right to wear pantsuits and miniskirts in the workplace and classroom (Hillman). While the 1950s and ‘60s, as well as the decades before, paved the way for these changes, the ‘70s showed the most dramatic

shift in advertising by far out of the three decades. Women were no longer simply docile domestic creatures but strong and independent -- as long as they had access to a particular product, that is. Of course, the ideologies of individuals such as the ones who suppressed the Equal Rights Amendment still appeared in advertising despite the more empowering ads. Some advertising still depicted women as delicate or simply men’s property.

Photo credit: cifwatch.com

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THE 1970SInto the changes of ‘70s ads

Photo credit, top: vintageadbrowser.comBottom: taschen.com

Advertisements in the 1970s continued the dramatic shift that started in the 1960s. The top left advertisement is a stark contrast to the ideologies presented in the 1950s and ‘60s advertisements. The man and the woman are side by side, wearing the same T-shirt, and the word “peace” is prominent. The ideas presented in this advertisement reflect the “feminist quest to reject gender binaries that strictly separated masculine roles” (Hillman). There is no divide but instead a mutual respect between the genders. This propagates the ideology of equality among the sexes. The top right advertisement is more sexual than the others. While it implies that one must be the “right kind of woman” in order to wear “The Mistress Collection,” it also propagates that a forbidden, taken man must be part of a woman’s empowerment. The bottom left advertisement shows that even with all of the progress in 1970s advertising, the ideology that women should be in the background and focus on things like fashion was still prominent.

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WORKS CITED1. Seligman, Edwin R.A., ed. Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. London: Macmillan, 1934. Print.

2. Herman, Edward S., and Noam Chomsky. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. New York: Pantheon Books, 1988. Web.

3. “Ideology.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam- Webster, 2011.

4. Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. <http://monoskop.org/ images/1/19/Goffman_Erving_The_ Presentation_of_Self_in_Every day_Life.pdf>. Web.

5. Sheehan, Kim. “Gender and Advertising: How Gender Shapes Meaning.” Controversies in Contemporary Advertising. New York: SAGE Publications, 2013. 89-111. Print.

6. Busby, Linda J., and Greg Leichty. “Feminism and Advertising in Traditional and Nontraditional Women’s Magazines 1950s-1980s.” Journalism Quarterly 70.2 (1993): 247-264. Communication Source. Web.

7. Holt, Jennifer. “The Ideal Woman.” California State University Stanislaus. <https://www.csustan.edu/sites/default/ files/honors/documents/journals/ soundings/Holt.pdf&gt;>. Web.

8. Catalano, Christina (2002) “Shaping the American Woman: Feminism and Advertising in the 1950s,” Constructing the Past: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 6. http:// digitalcommons.iwu.edu/constructing/ vol3/iss1/6

9. U.S. Department of Education. Snyder.

Thomas D. 120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrait. NationalCenter for Education Statistics, 1993. Web.

10. Kluckhohn, Clyde. “The Complex Kinsey Study and What It Attempts to Do.”NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 13 September 1953. Web. <http://www. nytimes.com/books/97/03/23/reviews/ bright-study.html>.

11. Hillman, Betty Luther. “’The Clothes I Wear Help Me to Know My Own Power:’ The Politics of Gender Presentation in the Era of Women’s Liberation.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 34.2 (2013): 155-85. Project Muse. Web. <http://muse. jhu.edu/>.

12. History.com. “The 1970s.” The History Channel. Web. <http://www.history.com/ topics/1970s>.

Photo credits from pg. 1, clockwise: vogue.com, huffingtonpost.com, bonkersinstitute.com, taschen.com, becreative.co.uk, thoughtcatalog.com.

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