1950s Women's Domestic and Beauty Standards

The 1950s witnessed the growth of the American middle class during an age of affluence and mass consumer culture. Along with the creation of new advertising mediums, such as television, spending became the new norm. In this era of the baby boom and suburbia, white middle-class Americans found themselves conforming to traditional gender norms and pressured to acquire consumer goods as status symbols(Moss, p. 72-81).

I will analyze how advertisements and instructional films from the years 1950 to 1959 pushed specific beauty standards and domestic values upon women. I will mainly access films by Coronet Instructional Films and advertisements from Ad*Access. The advertisements will be categorized into either the subject of travel or product advertising.

Advertising preyed on the insecurities and inner inefficiencies that women felt in their lives. Betty Friedan, the author of the book 'The Feminine Mystique' (10), argued that advertisements targeting women fueled the market. Specifically, women forced into housework had leftover energy from the lack of self-fulfillment they experienced. This energy was then channeled into buying products and spending money (Friedan, p. 207).

Furthermore, Katherine Parkin's 'Food is Love: Advertising and Gender Roles in Modern America' (11) evaluates how food advertising has played a role in perpetuating gender roles. Parkin explains that with the increased convenience and access to foods and practical kitchen appliances, one might believe that cooking is a task that can be completed by anyone. Yet, contrarily, cooking and food advertisements were still presented as a female-oriented market (Parkin, p. 1-8).

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