If Donald Trump had been a Mad Man on Madison Avenue, one could imagine him penning the misogynist copy in these vintage ads.
In the retro world of Republicans, Trump follows a long tradition of misogyny, that is as offensive as it is woefully out of touch.
In a Trump viewed world, the following vintage ads would be a real hoot.
Sexist Vintage ad Pitney Bowles
Would you believe there was once a time when it was okay to run an advertisement with the headline asking “Is It Always Illegal to Kill a Woman?” In what may be the most misogynist ad ever, this ad that ran in mainstream publications like Saturday Evening Post, Fortune etc. was just one of a legion of ads and media messages that were once so prevalent that reinforced the powerful male and submissive female.
The scary thing is, some of these misogynist views continue to exist with dire consequences.
When it comes to misogyny in advertising, 1947’s Pitney Bowes Postage Meter ad easily ranks in the top ten.
And that’s saying a lot in a culture that was prolific in sexist advertising.
In the ad we learn Pete Jones, has spent 6 months convincing the home office to finally purchase a Pitney Bowes Postage Meter for the office. But he hits a wall when the only stenographer he has, a redhead named Miss Morissey balks at using it. Pete tells his story:
“‘I’ve no mechanical aptitude. Machines mix me up, kind of,” she says. “As if we asked her to fly a P-80. I almost blow my top,” he recalls, clearly in need of anger management training.
He attempts to explain this modern efficient machine to the ditzy dame, explaining that “it’s practically heaven’s gift to the working girl…and so on. But with the Morissey, no soap.”
Mr. Jones continues his story:
“I try diplomacy. ‘Miss Morissey, I want you to personally try it for two weeks. If you don’t like it then-back it goes to the factory! Okay?’…She acts like an early Christian about to be lunch for a lion, but gives in.”
“So help me- two weeks later she has a big pink bow on the handle of the postage meter-like it was an orchid or something. I give it the gape.”
“‘Kinda cute, ain’t it,” says Miss Morissey. ‘But a very efficient machine, Mr Jones. Now the mail is out early enough so I get to the girl’s room in time to hear all of the dirt’.”
Exasperated Pete wonders finally :”Is it always illegal to kill a woman!”
Audacity
Vintage 1949 Ad Van Heusen Shirts
These ads may cause a snicker but they are powerful enforcers of suffocating stereotypes and underlying assumptions of a culture that continues to reinforce traditional alpha masculinity and submissive femininity.
Truth or Consequences
What do these ads tell us about the culture that produced them and the people that consumed them. Vintage ad 1946
Donald Trumps rants may seem as antiquated as these sexist vintage ads but his attitudes continue to permeate our culture in subtle ways with devastating consequences.
Copyright (©) 20015 Sally Edelstein All Rights Reserved
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Sad but so true. After getting the right to vote in 1920 and then becoming an essential part of the workforce during World War II, women had come a long way in just two decades. I think the men were scared…they could see their patriarchal dominance slipping away, and so their response was a slew of sexist ads to put women back in their proper place. Stories of heroic capable women (like these:
http://www.messynessychic.com/2015/07/28/beauties-and-their-bombers-meet-the-top-gun-heroines-of-ww2/) were buried in bright glossy ads of the “idyllic” suburban life, and in our strong post-war economy, we bought into it, temporarily at least. Personally though, I prefer a blow-hard misogynist like Trump over those who sneakily strive to subvert women’s rights. At least with Trump, it’s loud and clear who NOT to vote for!
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I agree, that with Trump there is no mincing words vs the insidious misogyny that still exists in our culture. And yes, Rosie the Riveter got her pink slip pronto and was sent back to the front lines of hearth and home in a postwar suburban paradise.
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Lord knows that I don’t care for FOX News and that I don’t agree with a lot of the things that Megyn Kelly has said in the past. However, I applaud the way she handled Donald Trump. If all FOX reporters asked tough questions like she did, I would have a lot more respect for the network than I do now, even if I don’t agree with their politics.
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I never thought I would be supportive of anything Megyn Kelly uttered, but she deserves kudos for confronting Trump
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Megyn was doing the bidding of her employers at FOX “News” and the GOP, which are pretty much the same thing. They didn’t want Trump to get the nomination, so she baited him into saying all of those awful things. FOX/GOP does not want Donald Trump to run as the GOP nominee in 2016. Hillary would wipe the floor with him and they know it. The Donald on a third party ticket would siphon off all of the republican base vote and again, Hillary would be the winner in a landslide. Had Megyn Kelly called out any one of the other nine debate contestants on their misogynistic legislation that they had supported or signed, the conservative reaction would have been much different. Trump is a rodeo clown, meant to distract us from the real anti-woman views and actions of the rest of the republican party. He has gone out of control, and now they aren’t quite sure how to get rid of him.
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First we have Donald Trump insulting Mexicans. Then we have Trump insulting every prisoner of war. (His comment about John McCain said that he liked veterans who weren’t captured. As if it was John McCain’s fault. Maybe he also likes veterans who didn’t get themselves shot.) Now he insults women on the same stage as nine other Republican candidates. And the best those other candidates could do was stand there and say that they got it that voters were angry.
Too bad one of those candidates didn’t take off their microphone and walk off the stage. That candidate would have received lots of media coverage as he told the press that Donald Trump sickened him. That he had a daughter and a wife and a mother and a sister. That John McCain was the bravest man he knew. And that insulting a whole nation of people is not only bigotry. It’s downright intolerable.
But as we have seen, none of these candidates have any principles. The only principle they have is they want to get elected. And they will pander to anyone they can to make that happen. Are these the kind of people we want for a President? I don’t think so.
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I agree, Hollywood and Wallstreet. Bastions of the left.
Stop the hate.
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