In today’s society women are seen the majority of the time as equals in society, upholding the same quality jobs as men and receiving the same pay if not more. Unfortunately, in the 1950’s women had one role to play which was the housekeeper and the caretaker of the family. Film particularly has been able to capture this evolution of the role of women. Old 1950’s films represent women as stereotypes with women in large dresses either with other females, in the house raising children, or at social events. Now films show women in more of a liberal light, having their own lives and jobs, holding their own place in society without the help or the dependence on males. Therefore, it can be observed that there has been a progression of women from the Post-war era in the 1950s to the current millenium, a transformation from highly domesticated women to modernized equals of society.
To examine this evolution of women we will consult two videos, one featuring cooking instructions from the 1950s, and the other from a commercial for kitchen equipment. These video clips represents completely different portrayals of women in the media. This can partly be due to the modernization of society and also the increased development of the workforce and the overall economy. The fact that the time period of the 1950s also has a lot to do with the way women were portrayed back then since after the war there was a large period of reconnectiveness and promotion of family values, especially when soldiers returned home from the war. Since we have not experienced here in America any large scale wars since WWII (I suppose the situation in Iraq could be debated but its surely not as all encompassing as WWII was), women have been able do distinguish themselves and move away from the conventional stereotypes.
This first video: Features a newlywed young lady who has just moved into her new house with her husband. It shows him going off to work and then stating that she is suppose to learn to cook the foods just like how his mother used to do it. This reference to the desire for his wife to resemble his mother represents a stereotype of women being nurturing and supportive. Also this video represents the attire in which she is dressed in, a long dress tight around the waste but conservative in covering her legs. It also shows how this young lady does not have a job and is starting to assume her role of domestication: cooking and cleaning. When it shows the lady making an error for her first cooking experience, that shows that women do not have an inherant ability to cook, like some might assume but rather just like men they have to learn. Also this video does not show any sign of issues with time management or a rush to get the food cooked; the lady is able to take her time as if she has all day. The next video will represent a completely different portrayal of women.
Featuring Kelly Ripa, a famous actress, Electrolux is trying to sell their goods on the premise of the “modernized women” accomidating to her every need as a busy hardworking multi-tasking individual. Watch the clip here:
As you can see women in this video footage are represented as still domesticated, cooking for the kids, but while simultaneously maintaining a job and other daily activities. Also, the women in this commercial is also dressed quite differently, no longer in a dress or a skirt but pants and a shirt, which would have been highly controversial in the 1950s. There also is no mention of her husband, it is very possible that she is a single mother which would also be another target of the company Electrolux, since there are many single mothers in this day in age. This television commercial portrays women as productive, self-sufficient and in charge. These new assertive roles highly contradict the previous steotypes of women whose main focus is cooking. This commerical caters to women who dont have a large amount of time in the kitchen and works to expedite the cooking process by their new technology, judging from the scenes where in less then 5 seconds she’s thrown the kids their snacks and boiled chocolate as well as running from one thing to the next.
Ultimately, women in the media have been represented in extremely different ways from the 1950s to today. Judging from these two clips it is apparent that no longer are women except from the workplace. They do both serve the common theme that the majority of the time it is still the woman who cooks and takes care of the children but while maintaining the same role in society as their male counterparts. Their choices have expanded and the lives of women are growing increasingly hectic.
