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Interpreting Ideologies in Advertisements

The first ad appears to have been an ad in the 1950’s, an era in which men were ideally the breadwinners of the family and women cared for the children as well as the home. Everything done by a woman during this time was to please her husbands, leaving little or no room for her own happiness.

The ad represents the ideals of the 1950’s in many more ways than one. The woman clings to her husband as if she has no independence, no ability to stand on her own two feet. She is perfectly done-up: nails perfectly manicured and painted, presentable makeup with red lipstick, curled hair, and she is wearing a very nice black outfit. Her husband wears a suit and tie. Poor guy! He just returned from a long and grueling day at work. He’s in luck, though, his wife has been working all day in the kitchen to prepare him an ever-so-delicious after-work snack including wine and freshly baked pastries! Not only is the image derogatory, the text is as well. It portrays the machine higher than the woman: the machine does not cook, the wife does. “I’m giving my wife a Kenwood Chef� has a negative connotation as well: the wife is financially dependent on her husband and is unable to buy her own Kenwood Chef.

The Moschino ad, on the other hand, portrays cultural and racial ideologies. The woman is of African descent and wearing a leopard print outfit. The image relates African women too closely to nature, as if African women roam in the wild, completely uncivilized. The text reads “cheap and chic,� implying that African women are cheap, unimportant, and lesser than white women.

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