Vintage Sexism: VW Edition
The smaller text underneath is just priceless:
Women are soft and gentle, but they hit things. If your wife hits something in a Volkswagen, it doesn't hurt you very much.
I think I feel like hitting something right now... (Kidding! I don't endorse violence!)
See previous editions of Vintage Sexism here. Thanks to reader Lance and ncbeets on Twitter for the link.
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Hard to believe the world was ever that bad. Wow.
In a way, things like this give me hope. Obviously, this wouldn't be produced today, even though sexist ads are still commonplace. I like to imagine that, in the year 2050, random pages from Cosmo 2009 will be posted on Feministing 5.0 on the GlobeNet and provoke a similar shocked reaction that things were ever that bad. I hope that the young people of 2050 are as mystified by anti-gay marriage laws as I am by segregation. Guess we'll find out...
Oh. My. God.
What year is this from? 1960s?
My mom bought a TV when I was small - in the mid-to-late 1970s - she had originally decided to get one model, then changed her mind and went with another. The salesman suggested she call my dad for permission to get a different TV, because women weren't considered savvy enough with technology or money to make such a momentous decision without male input.
She told me that a few years ago and my jaw nearly hit the floor. I can't believe shit like that went one within my lifetime.
If your wife hits something in a Volkswagen, it doesn't hurt you very much.
Unless that something is YOU, sexist bastard!
I'm surprised VW has such a good reputation with ads like this one in it's history.
"Your wife is a moron so buy our car" isn't such a good selling point in the 2000s.
In what bizarro world does VW have a good reputation? The company was founded as a joint venture between private capitalists and the national socialist government of Germany.
Oh, no. I have a newish Beetle. My husband drove it once and crashed it.
Ah yes, the old "women can't drive" meme. You stay classy, Volkswagen.
Particularly irritating because most of Doyle Dane Bernbach's ads for the Beetle were so good.
I like that they used the word "cheap" when referring to their product. I thought that was an advertising faux pax.
"Women are soft and gentle, but they hit things."
I literally LOLed at that one.
I don't get the point of the vintage sexism posts. Can't we just let this shit die.
Isn't is ironic that women are supposed to be these terrible drivers, but statistically, young men get in more fatal accidents than anyone else?
I don't know if there is less sexism today thant we had before. I just think its more subtle. So looking at ads like this don't tell us what people used to think but what they think now but express in less overt tones.
Homer: Hey, a cartoon! [a woman tries to explain a pile of metal that used to be a car] "Well, dear, you always wanted a compact!" [laughs] Ain't it the truth!
Marge: No, it's not the truth, Homer. It's well-documented that women are safer drivers than men.
Homer: Oh, Marge, cartoons don't have any deep meaning. They're just stupid drawings that give you a cheap laugh. [gets up, revealing rear cleavage]
holy cow.
how irritating!