Results matching “vintage sexism”

We covered this a couple of years ago, but a reader sent it in and it's just too good not to bring to light, especially when we have the original.

This gem is from the July 1943 issue of Transportation Magazine, written for male supervisors of women during World War II. These were "helpful tips" on supervising women at work (emphasis mine):

1. Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they're less likely to be flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn't be doing it, they still have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently.

2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It's always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.

3. General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.

4. Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical examination - one covering female conditions. This step not only protects the property against the possibilities of lawsuit, but reveals whether the employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job.

Is it just me or does this sound like an episode of the Crocodile Hunter? Except in this case they're, you know, not animals. Sigh.

The rest of this madness is after the jump, my fave being, "A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day." Just give me a tube of lipstick and I'll be ready to take on the world!

Betty Draper takes aim at stereotypes, thanks to Mad Men's women writers

If you're anything like me, you can barely contain your excitement that season 3 of Mad Men begins on Sunday. It took me awhile to get around to watching the show (I didn't bother to get a converter when TV went digital, and won't shell out for cable), but finally my coworker Dana Goldstein convinced me: "Ann, it's all about sexism and vintage fashion. How can you not watch?"

And indeed, I love how the show paints an unvarnished picture of '50s gender roles and how the female characters are so three-dimensional. They don't easily map onto the sorts of stereotypes prevalent in TV shows and movies set in all decades. The bookish achiever (Peggy) is also kind of a slut. The slut (Joan) is also kind of a bookish achiever. And the devoted wife (Betty) is primed for a feminist awakening. (I've often wondered if the character was named after Betty Friedan.)

So I wasn't surprised to learn that 7 of the show's 9 writers are women, and in this upcoming season, women directed 5 of the 13 episodes. Compare that to elsewhere in Hollywood...

According to the Directors Guild of America, the labor union that represents film and television directors, about 13% of its 8,000 directors are female. Women comprised 23% of television writers during the 2007 to 2008 prime-time season, a 12 percentage point decrease from the same period a year earlier. Nearly 80% of TV programs in the 2007 to 2008 prime-time season had no women writers...

Maybe if all TV shows and movies had a better proportion of women writers, actresses wouldn't be considered past their prime at age 35 and would be given way more substantive leading roles. Turns out women-written movies and shows also tend to be pretty fucking popular.

I did notice that the seven Mad Men writers pictured all appeared to be white. While the show has touched on the issue of race (namely, when lead character Don Draper has an affair with a Jewish woman, and when one of the copywriters dates a black woman), it is a far less common theme than gender. I wonder if that would change, too, if the demographics of the writers did.

Who else is counting the minutes 'til Sunday night?

Related:
Funny ladies of Hollywood discuss getting "old"
An Entourage of Their Own
Unnoticed sexism: Movie Trailer Narrators
Women Make Money at the Movies, But Don't Say Much
On roles for women of color in Hollywood

Also see Amanda's writing about Mad Men, and two posts on Racialicious. (But be forewarned, they're spoiler-ridden!) Plus, watch Jezebel's 15 feminist moments from Mad Men.

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.

It is your official midday fluff post. But isn't it funny?!

Oh wait this isn't vintage, this company exists today. Sociological Images (which is increasingly my go-to place for great break-downs of visual sexism) has a great breakdown of their not-so-funny marketing claims.

So I totally had a "Get in Shape, Girl" ballet bar, weights and baton - I'm not gonna lie. But it just pains me to watch this commercial.

More vintage sexist ads here.

Binary gender systems are constructed. They rely on the repetition of dominant narratives via psychology, music, popular culture, film and of course children's books. This gem comes from a children's book called, "I'm Glad I'm a Boy! I'm Glad I'm a Girl! It is from the 1950's and I almost appreciate how blatantly obvious it is, since there is no question what it is trying to do. Gender-based messaging is much more subtle and nuanced these days.

You can see the whole book here. I am very glad no one read this book to me as a child, I probably would have set it on fire.

Whenever I see vintage sexism now all I can think of is Mad Men.

Thanks to Sophie for the link

Happy International Women's Day!

Go read coverage and commentary from Frau Sally Benz, Hoyden About Town, and Women's eNews. Our Bodies, Our Blog has a great roundup. And there's even more at the official IWD site. Plus, Renee has been doing an awesome series this week in which she interviews feminist/womanist bloggers in the run-up to IWD: Holly of Menstrual Poetry, Faith of Acts of Faith, Hexy of Hexpletive, Melissa of Shakesville, Loryn of Black Girl Blogging, Amanda of Pandagon, and Monica of TransGriot.

For the rest of the links, just the headlines today ...

Questioning Transphobia: Transphobic Assault Outside Washington, DC Bar

Jezebel: All Hail the Checkout Girl (via Lauren)

Found in Mom's Basement: 1971 ad for Republic steel wants to "talk women's liberation"

Aunt Jemima's Revenge: CNN Reporter Sean Callebs Plays at Living on Food Stamps for One Month

TAPPED: How the stimulus sells women short

MSNBC: Ditch the doll? Lawmaker out to outlaw Barbie (Plus: Dodson & Ross: If Barbie Was a Real Woman)

I know we've posted on a similar old Tab commercial, but I just had to put this up again. Vintage sexism is just so hilarious (in a totally fucked way).

Transcript after the jump.

Click here for larger image

From 1972 in Mademoiselle. The sheer ridiculousness of this ad renders me speechless.

A reader alerted us to this old Bell ad (an internet provider) saying, "You'll do anything to protect your kids from inappropriate content. So will we."

What's inappropriate is a picture of a woman with her breasts and vagina cut out of what's obviously some sort of school textbook on human anatomy. I also wasn't aware that ovaries are dirty too. (You'll see they're cut out as well.) Because we all know what exposing your children to ovaries will lead to...before you know it, they'll be ovarydosing!

(I know I know, I tried.)

via Shakesville.

I just love these "educational" videos that classes were shown back in the day in efforts to keep The Sex from tainting young ladies' precious vagdes reputations.

My favorite line: "No, girls who park in cars are not really popular. Not even with the boys they park with."

Thanks to Sarah!

This is a gem.

Thanks to Lauren for the link.

This seems too insane to be real. (Click here for larger image)

Via copyranter, we find this old ad for Heinz soup that starts with:

"The things women have to put up with. Most husbands, nowadays, have stopped beating their wives, but what can be more agonizing to a sensitive soul than a man's boredom at meals. Yet, lady, there must be a reason. If your cooking and not your conversation is monotonous, that's easily fixed."

Just cook up some nice soup for your man to keep him preoccupied, because you wouldn't want to make him bored, would you, lady??

Totally. Speechless.

I saw this ridiculous Chevy commercial a couple of days ago and am so glad reader John reminded me about it (h/t!), it's definitely worth sharing.

Apparently women aren't marketable to the auto industry unless shoes are involved.

While this isn't as disturbing as some of the vintage car and auto-related commercials we've found, it's run-of-the-mill sexism is irritable enough.

Although shockingly, we have found one anti-sexist car ad. Go Johnson Automotive!

Via.

Thanks to Katie for the link.

Happy Friday, feminists! Time for some booze-blogging. I'll admit, I laughed out loud at this sexist ad circa 1990 (via):

(Here's another from the same series.)

Then I read this post from Lauredhel about a series of offensive Jim Beam commercials in Australia. Let's set aside, for a moment, the rank sexism and anti-gay themes in these ads, and take a broader look at how whiskey is gender-marketed. As the manliest of manly drinks. I mean, take a quick Google Image tour of whiskey/bourbon/scotch ads.

I mentioned this to my coworker and fellow whiskey-lover Phoebe today, and she pointed me to this 2006 New York Times article:

It's been going on for years, actually. When I was in college and went out with my oversize football player boyfriend, we'd order drinks, and every time I'd be served the frosty piña colada with the pink paper umbrella that he'd ordered, and he'd be served the tough-guy Scotch-rocks that was mine.

Been there, totally.

Though I still drink Scotch periodically, at some point I switched to Maker's Mark bourbon. These days, I order it in a tall glass to ensure that the ratio of booze to soda gives me a fighting chance of getting to the appetizer without falling out of my chair. But among some male bartenders, I've noticed more than a tad of residual resistance to the notion that the female of the species can drink hard liquor unadorned by grenadine or chunks of oxidizing pineapple.