Analysis of Life Maganize Advertisements

The advertisements in Life magazine create a certain deception of women in the early 1950’s and give a message about class. Women are portrayed in a flattering way and are shown to be content with their lives. However, the magazine advertisements, in their sexist nature, give off the message that women are meant to be secluded from anything that is not related to domestic work, creating the female housewife stereotype. Constantly women are shown in advertisements relating to appliances, cleaning, and being a good wife. Class in Life magazine is also shown by the possession of materialistic objects, like cars. It gives off the message that by owning these objects one is essentially living the dream.

Advertisements in Life magazine showed women mainly in ways were they were responsible for kitchen duties and taking care of their husbands. In the early 1950’s, there were recurring ads of women with refrigerators. In an advertisement from 1950, a woman is dressed like a typical housewife standing next to the refrigerator showing all the features it entails. It gives off the message that during this period of the 1950’s, society saw women as the face of the kitchen and a majority of the duties as a housewife took place there. Another advertisement from 1950, gives a clear indication of gender roles. In the advertisement for a refrigerator, the women and her daughter are shown organizing their refrigerator, and the man is shown as carrying in the refrigerator. The advertisement expresses that women are more fit for domestic work and that men are more for the labor tedious work that a woman cannot do. In an advertisement from 1953 to sell health insurance, the man who is selling health insurance puts a picture of himself and his...

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...ife magazine from 1951, the advertisement for general motors shows a bunch of cars in what appears to be a wealthy town, and says that the general motor is the key to a richer life. Another advertisement from 1951, pictures a red shiny car with a woman in the background who seems to be wealthy based on her clothes, and at the bottom, it says that a beautiful dream can come true. What the car advertisements are saying about class is that the wealthy are the ones that own these enjoyable materialistic objects, because no where in the advertisements are there people who appear to be poor; the advertisements only include people who seem to be wealthy or at least middle class. The advertisements are trying to express, that by owning one of these cars it can give one status and power. Fundamentally, the companies are trying to sell the lifestyle that the car can give.