Women's Loyalties to Country and Husband

1943-Volume 1 Life Magazine. 10 cents. Cashmere Bouquet Soap. “Are They Rationing Love Too?”

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This advertisement, published in Life Magazine, presents women with a brand of soap powerful enough to “save your relationship.” While the main focus of the ad is directed towards women, there is, both in this ad and the subsequent one, a masculine control. For example, while the advertisement concerns the private hygienic care of a woman, the clip’s heading asks if “They Are Rationing Love Too?” This unnamed “They” is presumably the men, who have, as the slogan shows, power over both wartime decisions and marital relationships. To use the word “ration” in the midst of an ad for soap caught me entirely off guard. However, with the Second World War in full swing, advertisers were quick to enforce domestic commerce and connect foreign relations with events on the home front. Many American men became a symbol of true patriotism and bravery in the face of a gruesome enemy. Women subsequently felt obligated to do whatever in their power to ease the toll both on their husbands and on the American economy. Therefore buying a bar of soap was no longer an inconsequential sale. It was an act of loyalty to one’s family and husband, and on the larger scale—to one’s country. But by reinforcing such relationships in these advertisements, gender roles of the woman and man in a normal American relationship became rigid.
Looking at the ad itself, we first see that the man is reticent to show affection for his wife. She wonders what she is to do, lamenting and asking, “Who’s supposed to make the advances these days—me?” She implies that it is absurd for the woman to make a potentially sexual or affectionate advance on the man, as if such action is outside the acceptable behavior of a woman. For the times, this notion may have stereotypically held true. In a Ladies’ Home Journal article entitled, “You Can’t Have a Career and Be a Good Wife”, the author notes that “An aggressive husband and an apologetic wife do not make a satisfactory couple, but it is even more against nature when the positions are reversed.” (Pg. 73). I stress this quote not because it reveals any new gender stereotypes of the era, but rather because it implies that an alternative relationship is not simply unusual, but is rather, “against nature”.
The dialogue that ensues on the page is between “The Girl” and “US”, although the “US” character is easily generalized to include all men and an inherently masculine dominance. Furthermore, in the context of the advertisement, “US” can either stand for all men, or in the very literal sense, for the United States, as if it is the collective country as a whole that is telling the young wife what she needs to do to properly attract and satisfy her husband. The advertisement goes on to persuade the young girl that in order to be truly feminine and get him to “keep on calling you darling” you need to embody the “starry-eyed daintiness” that befits a lady. The advertisement is in many ways attractive because it corners a market of younger women, who are still in the courtship of their relationships. I noticed throughout my research that during this era, many advertisements stressed a reemergence of youthful American culture. This advertisement, like many others, looks to the younger generations of women to continue the patriotic and marital loyalties that befit a true American wife.




1954-November 22nd. 22 cents. Chaney Tru-Temp Thermometers.

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While the previous ad offers to enhance the beauty and sexual appeal of women, this advertisement caters to wives as part of the family unit. Already we see a shift from the previous ad now that the women, fully situated as a wife of the husband, becomes a part of the family. But similar to the first ad, while the product may be directed to the wife, the presence of the man in the ad and the exclamations of cost and price indicate a male presence. Even in this age as we’ve learned, it was often uncommon for the woman to purchase electronic or technological goods, even if they pertain to areas (such as the kitchen), that are generally associated with the woman. So while the ad may benefit the daily tasks of the woman, the ad implies that the man will buy it. The ad is split down the middle by the thermometer itself, dividing the aspects of the product that appeal to men with those that appeal to women.
Nancy A. Walker, author of “Women’s Magazines 1940-1960: Gender Roles in the Popular Press” captures the stereotypical essence of the ad when she says, “In the world presented in the magazines, men might mow the lawn, build shelves in the garage, or grill hamburgers on the patio; they did not run vacuum cleaners, diaper babies, or bake cakes.” The men’s side, dominated by a blue and grey color palette, represents the colder side of the thermometer. This colder sense can be inferred as a source of level-headedness, logic, and ingenuity. Clearly divided from the men’s side is the women’s side, dominated by a pink and yellow color palette. The entire scene takes place in the kitchen, reinforcing the dominating gender stereotypes of the age. All the amenities offered are centered in the kitchen, the stereotyped “Workplace of the Woman”. The only outlier from the kitchen amenities is an offer for a baby thermometer that continues to reinforce the notion that a woman’s world consists of housewife duties. Articles of the era entitled “You Can’t Have a Career and be a Good Wife” or “Why I Quit Working” also reinforce the idea that women have a natural job at home, and that despite the extra pay, a “second” job outside the home is actually detrimental to the family overall.
Nevertheless, by the mid 1950’s, when this advertisement was published, more than a third of women over thirty-five had jobs outside the home. This new rise in female workers was in large part a response to a culture that encouraged a single family of two incomes. Families, especially those in the top forty percent of income earned, reached an even higher standard of living due to the extra paycheck coming in. This type of ad may have been an attempt to push families back towards a previous way of life, in which the man received the only paycheck and the woman cleaned and maintained the house, bought and cooked the food, and raised the children. Between these two advertisements, we can see that the women’s role has shifted from winning a man’s love to maintaining her role as housewife, cook, and nurturer to the family.
1943 and 1954 represented two drastically different points in American history and culture. While these advertisements show numerous differences in composition and color, both, on the surface, advertised to women despite the presence of dominant masculine undertones beneath. They also reflected changing gender roles between men and women, across all stages of the relationship.