I liked this thesis because it was easy to read and flowed nicely. And, of course the topic intrigued me as well. The viewpoint that marketing has targeted women over the last two centuries isn't a new concept but Victoria correlated our economic and social eras with that of women's role in U.S. culture. Her research was evident and thorough. I especially liked reading about the first female advertising agency established by Mathilde C. Weils as early as 1870. Victoria also reflected how advertising created stereotypes based on the social standing of the woman at given phases of our history:
- Industrial Revolution and Westward Migration
- Progressive Era and World War I
- Great Depression
- World War II
We went from the 1800s notion that woman didn't work outside the home to the 1920s when women were granted national suffrage. Victoria goes on to explain each phase in detail, cite references and gives examples in the changing roles of women and the parallel effect of the changes in advertising.
I'd like to look into the following passage:
“Advertising,” wrote one commentator in a trade publication, “helps to keep the masses dissatisfied with their mode of life, discontented with ugly things around them. Satisfied customers are not as profitable as discontented ones.” Advertisers, as historian Stuart Ewen notes, tried to endow people with a “critical self-consciousness.” (“chnm.gmu.edu”) (p 6).
as it may apply to a thesis idea floating in my head - consumerism vs. sustainability.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Victoria's paper and was able to read it, like a book you can't put down, to the end.
